The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has upheld, in part, an appeal concerning the value of a salvage reward involving a robotic submarine.
The SCA reduced a salvage reward of over R5 million, claimed by marine contractor Harry Dilley (Pty) Ltd, to R80 000, for the efforts of its charter boat in the salvage operation.
The matter involved De Beers Marine (Pty) Ltd, which owns an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), or robotic submarine, used to map the seabed in mining operations.
Court papers said De Beers had an agreement with Harry Dilley to charter a work boat, the Nkwaza, to assist it in conducting sea trials in False Bay, to commission new equipment installed on the AUV.
On October 27, 2017, the AUV was launched for the sea trials, but…