The Law of Salvage is a principle of Maritime Law whereby any person who helps recover another person’s ship or cargo in peril at sea is entitled to a reward commensurate with the value of the property salved. There are procedures in place to make a claim for salvage within a certain time frame. There's an International convention on Salvage and also there is "Special Compensation" that allows for preventing an ecological disaster. The LOF (Llyods Open Form) is the standard of marine salvage operations.