China Pacific S.A. v. Food Corporation of India, The Winson 1 provokes a number of reflections on the rights and liabilities of carriers, cargo owners and salvors where, through no fault of the carrier,2 salvage services are necessary for a ship and her cargo.

The defendants chartered the Winson for carriage of a full cargo (37,100 tons) of wheat. The vessel had a lien on the cargo for freight, which was to be at all times at the risk of the shipowners and which was deemed earned upon arrival. On Jan. 21, 1975, the ship grounded on a reef 420 miles from Manila. On the following day, the ship’s managing agents contracted with the plaintiffs, who were professional salvors, for salvage of the ship and her cargo on the terms of Lloyd’s Standard Form of Salvage Agreement (No Cure—No Pay). Clause 16 of the Form (which appears in substantially similar style in cl. 17 of the 1980 edition) clearly provided that the cargo owners were to be directly liable to the plaintiffs for performance of the contract to salve the cargo:

It was necessary to lighten the vessel, and six separate parcels (of 15,429 tons in toto) of wheat were off-loaded and carried to Manila, arriving between Feb. 10 and Apr. 20 inclusive. Entry into the port of Manila was assumed to be into a place of safety.3 However, it was necessary on arrival there for the wheat to be stored to prevent its rapid deterioration from exposure to the elements during the period before a decision as to what was to be done with it was reached by whomever was legally entitled to possession. The plaintiffs had no storage facilities of their own at Manila. They, therefore, contracted as principals for its storage by depositaries, who held it to their order and to whom they were thus personally liable for storage expenses until the cargo owners completed taking possession of it, which they did not do until Aug. 5.

On Apr. 15 salvage operations had been justifiably suspended in view of the danger to men and equipment caused by fighting which had broken out in the vicinity on the