New SCOPIC Rates Introduced July 2007
The tariff rates under SCOPIC have been increased. The new rates, agreed by the International Salvage Union and the International Group of P&I Clubs and endorsed by property underwriters and owners, took effect on 1 July 2007 and will continue until 31 December 2010. The new tariff will apply to LOF Agreements entered into after 1 July 2007.
Under the new tariff arrangements, SCOPIC rates for tugs and other craft have increased by 25%. Rates for Salvor’s own portable salvage equipment have increased by 15%, and rates for personnel have increased by 5%, following an earlier increase of 10% in this area, introduced with effect from 1 January 2006.
The SCOPIC Clause has further been amended by incorporating Article 18 of the 1989 Salvage Convention into the Clause.
Background
Article 14 of the 1989 Salvage Convention ('Article 14') provided that salvors ('Contractors') could receive Special Compensation (ie their expenses and a fair rate for tugs and equipment used in salvage operations) in certain circumstances where the salved fund was insufficient to allow them to recover adequate remuneration under Article 13 of the Salvage Convention 1989 ('Article 13'). The SCOPIC clause endorsed this concept but introduced a tariff to calculate the Contractor's Special Compensation together with an uplift fixed at 25%. Traditional Article 13 Awards will be discounted by 25% of the amount by which any Article 13 Award exceeds the SCOPIC remuneration. Special Casualty Representatives (SCR) and Representatives for hull and cargo were introduced and marine property underwriters' access to information about the services was improved. SCOPIC was warmly welcomed by the maritime community but experience gained through its use identified a number of matters which needed clarification to confirm the original intent behind SCOPIC and a number of gaps which needed to be filled in the wording of SCOPIC, particularly in Appendix A (Tariff Rates). To this end the SCOPIC drafting sub-committee produced an amended version of SCOPIC ("SCOPIC 2000") which came into effect on 1 September 2000.
To view details of SCOPIC cases access the salvage cases application.
SCOPIC clause
Click below to view the SCOPIC Clause, its appendices, two Codes of Conduct and guarantee wording. If you require a copy of Adobe Acrobat to view the documents below, please visit the Adobe website.
Special Casualty Representative (SCR)
Access the documents below for further information on the role of the Special Casualty Representative.
