There doubtless exist throughout the various regions of the world several examples of standard form salvage agreements but of unquestionable eminence is the universally familiar Lloyd’s Standard Form of Salvage Agreement (hereinafter referred to as LSA) approved and published by the Committee of Lloyd’s (hereinafter referred to as the Committee). The LSA is utilised by professional and casual salvors in both home and distant waters. Not infrequently, a copy of the agreement is included among the ship’s papers of ordinary merchant ships as a matter of administrative routine and is the object of automatic reference in the event of hazard. The breadth of the LSA’s usage and popularity has not evaded judicial notice. In the House of Lords’ decision in Admiralty Commissioners v. Valverda (Owners) Lord Roche commented:

In view of the undoubted popularity of the LSA the object of this article is to submit it to observation, explanation and scrutiny, and where thought necessary also to criticism. The account makes no pretence to be comprehensive and the constant awareness of the need to be both lucid and concise has caused much detail to be generalised and on occasions excised.

The historical derivation of the LSA appears to root from the last decade of the 19th century when Lloyd’s was involved in the appraisal and approval of standard form salvage agreements to be utilised by individual salvors. The practice quickly mushroomed with several concomitant agreements soon in operation. From the very start the Committee of Lloyd’s seem to have adopted certain criteria of approval with, consequentially, nothing automatic between the process of submission and adoption. In 1892 the first standard form salvage agreement for general use was published and following subsequent amendments it was decided in 1908 that this should be the sole form of salvage agreement under the auspices of Lloyd’s. The previous practice of confirming separate agreements with individual salvors was thereupon discontinued. Since 1908 the now omnipotent LSA has been the subject of regular amendment which in date sequence has been recorded at the bottom left hand corner of the first page of the current Agreement. The last publication took effect on Feb. 23, 1972.2