As technological advances have made possible the recovery of cargoes from sunken shipwrecks at ever greater depths, issues have arisen as to how the law of salvage and, in respect of cargoes that are state-owned, the law of state immunity should apply. In Argentum Exploration Ltd v Republic of South Africa,1 the UK Supreme Court (“UKSC”) decided that the Republic of South Africa (“RSA”) was entitled to state immunity from suit in a claim in rem for salvage brought in respect of a sunken cargo of silver. The decision turned on the court’s interpretation of s.10(4) of the UK State Immunity Act 1978 (“SIA”),2 the first time this provision has been considered in the English courts. In finding for RSA, the UKSC rejected the “overly technical” interpretation of the section adopted by the majority in the Court of Appeal. The judgment is of considerable importance for the law of state immunity, if less so for the law of salvage as such.

The UK-flagged commercial ship SS Tilawa (the “vessel”) was en route from Mumbai (then Bombay) to Durban when it was sunk by enemy action in the Indian Ocean in November 1942. It was carrying 2,364 bars of silver (“the Silver”) which belonged to the then Union of South Africa and which was intended to be made into coin by the South African mint. The Silver was recovered in 2017 by Argentum Exploration Ltd (“Argentum”) at a depth of 2.5 km, carried to the UK and declared to the Receiver of the Wreck under s.236 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 (“MSA”). The Silver was estimated to have a value of US$43 million in 2020.3

Argentum, claiming as salvor, brought proceedings in rem for salvage against the Silver in 2019 under the International Salvage Convention 1989. A claim in salvage allows persons who have rendered assistance to a vessel or her cargo in danger at sea to claim a reward for their services; it is a claim which can be brought in rem against the cargo or in personam against the owner of the cargo. In the case of the Silver, the claim was