Chapter XIV
SALVAGE OF SHIPWRECKED PROPERTY
Article 276. SHIPWRECKED PROPERTY
1. Shipwrecked property refers to any ship, goods or other objects which are wrecked or adrift within the port water area and sea of Vietnam or run aground on the coast of Vietnam.
2. Shipwrecked dangerous property refers to any shipwrecked property that may hinder or pose dangers to marine operations, or threaten human lives and health, or have impacts on natural resources and cause environmental pollution.
Article 277. Obligations of the owner of shipwrecked property
1. The owner of shipwrecked property shall be obliged to salvage such property and cover all costs relating to salvage activities, except the circumstances provided for by paragraph 2 of this Article. Where the owner of shipwrecked property fails to conduct salvage activities or performs any salvage in breach of the required time limit, the competent authority defined in Article 284 hereof shall grant the decision on salvage of such property.
2. Where shipwrecked property is a ship, good or other object carried on board a ship, the ship owner shall be obliged to salvage shipwrecked property and cover any related cost. The manager and operator of the ship shall be jointly liable for salvage of the shipwrecked property and pay any relevant cost relating to such salvage.
3. Where the shipwrecked property causes environmental pollution, the owner of the shipwrecked property is required to apply measures to prevent and limit any loss that may arise and compensate for any loss resulted from environmental pollution in accordance with laws.
Article 278. Time limit for notification and salvage of shipwrecked property
Notwithstanding provisions laid down in Article 279 hereof, the time limit for notification and salvage of shipwrecked property shall be provided for as follows:
1. Within a period of 30 days from the date on which property is shipwrecked, the owner of that shipwrecked property must notify competent authorities referred to in Article 284 hereof of salvage and proposed deadline for completion of such salvage;
2. Within a period of 30 days of receipt of the aforesaid notification, in reliance on actual conditions, the competent authorities referred to in Article 284 hereof shall decide the proposed deadline for completion of such salvage or provide detailed provisions on the deadline in which the owner of that shipwrecked property has to complete his salvage operation.
Article 279. Salvage of shipwrecked property
1. The owner of dangerous shipwrecked property shall be obliged to promptly notify the Director of the nearest port authority of any accident occurring and carry out salvage of such property within the time limit set out by the Government. Where the owner of such property fails to salvage or is incapable of assuring that such salvage meets the time limit, the competent authority shall be charged with carrying out salvage operations and decide the deadline for that owner's payment of related costs.
The owner of that property is bound to compensate for any related loss or damage and shall be subject to any punitive action in accordance with laws even though his title to such shipwrecked property has been lost as prescribed in paragraph 1 Article 281 hereof.
2. For the period of 30 days of receipt of notification of complete salvage of his property, unless the owner of such property claims that property or pays related costs by the stipulated deadline, the competent authority shall make a decision on auctioning of such property. Where dangerous shipwrecked property are perishable types of property or costs of preservation of such property is greater than value of such property, the competent authority shall make a decision on auctioning of such property immediately after completion of salvage. Conduct of auctioning of that shipwrecked property shall be consistent with laws and regulations.
3. After costs of salvage, preservation and auctioning of shipwrecked property and other reasonable costs associated with such property, as prescribed by paragraph 2 of this Article, have been completely paid and if revenue earned from such auction is not used up, such sum of revenue shall be deposited in a bank and notify the owner of such property of this; for the period of 180 days of receipt of this notification, if such sum has not been collected by that owner, it shall be subject to the state budget’s expropriation, except to the extent that the owner has lost his right to shipwrecked property referred to in Article 281 hereof.
4. Where the sum generated from auctioning of the shipwrecked property under the provisions of paragraph 3 of this Article is not adequate to make up for costs, the owner of that property is bound to pay the sum owed within the deadline defined by the authority making a decision on salvage of such property; in the event that the owner is not able to make such payment or the owner of such property is unidentifiable, that sum owed shall be covered by the state budget.
Article 280. Privilege for salvage of shipwrecked property
Vietnamese organizations or individuals shall be accorded privilege over effecting of the contract for salvage of shipwrecked property within internal waters and territorial waters of Vietnam.
Article 281. Loss of ownership of shipwrecked property
1. The owner of shipwrecked property shall be deprived from ownership of such property if notification of salvage is not issued or salvage of such property fails to meet the deadline defined in Article 278 and 279 hereof. In this case, such shipwrecked property shall automatically become the state-owned property.
2. In the circumstances referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, the competent authority provided for in Article 284 hereof shall make a decision to deal with the shipwrecked property.
3. The owner of dangerous shipwrecked property who is deprived from the ownership of such property in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article shall remain liable for compensation for any loss and sanctioned in accordance with laws and regulations.
Article 282. Treatment of randomly salvaged property
1. Where randomly salvaging shipwrecked property within the internal waters and territorial waters of Vietnam, or when moving such randomly salvaged property to the internal waters and territorial waters of Vietnam, the salvor must promptly notify the competent authority referred to in Article 284 hereof of the time, location and other related events; protect such property until it is delivered to the owner or the competent authority and then notify the competent authority of this whenever possible.
2. Where the salvaged perishable property referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article entails the great cost of preservation of such property, the salvor shall be vested with the right to treat such property under the provisions of paragraph 2 and 3 Article 279 hereof.
3. For the period of 15 days of receipt of notification, unless the owner of such property claims that property or fails to pay debts, the salvor shall be obliged to give such property to the competent authority provided for by Article 284 hereof.
4. For the period of 60 days after the date of notification, unless the owner of such property referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article take any action to protect his interests, competent authorities referred to in Article 284 hereof shall be accorded the right to deal with such property provided for by paragraph 2 and 3 Article 279 hereof.
5. To the extent of the circumstance stipulated in paragraph 1 of this Article, the salvor shall be entitled to the remuneration for raising the ship and reimbursed for other relevant costs according to the similar rules applied to marine rescue remuneration.
6. Where it is unlikely to determine the owner of shipwrecked property, prevailing laws shall be applied to treatment of such property.
Article 283. Treatment of property which is adrift at sea or runs aground on the coast
1. Treatment of property which is adrift at sea and runs aground on the coast shall be consistent with provisions laid down in paragraph 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 Article 282 hereof.
2. The person who has found out, salvaged or participated in salvage of other person's property which is adrift at sea shall be entitled to remuneration according to the similar rules applied to marine rescue remuneration after notifying the owner of such property of his request at the time which is not later than the date of delivery of such property.
3. The person who has found out and preserved property running aground on the coast shall be entitled to a sum of reward and reimbursement for his preservation efforts which is limited to 30% of market price of such property after notifying the owner of such property of his request at the time which is not later than the date of delivery of such property.
Article 284. Authority to treat shipwrecked property
1. The Ministry of Transport shall take charge of conducting treatment of dangerous shipwrecked property.
2. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Transport shall take charge of conducting treatment of shipwrecked property considered as cultural relics.
3. The Ministry of National Defense shall take charge of treating shipwrecked property relating to national defence and those that have been discovered in military zones.
4. The Ministry of Public Security shall take charge of treating shipwrecked property relating to national security.
5. The People’s Committees of provinces shall take charge of treating shipwrecked property other than those referred to in paragraph 1, 2, 3 and 4 of this Article.
6. The Government shall provide detailed regulations on treatment of shipwrecked property.
Tìm kiếm
Bộ luật hàng hải Việt Nam 2015 (Bản Word)
Bộ luật hàng hải Việt Nam 2015 (Bản Pdf)