Reference no: EM132313407

Mr Antonio Remeiro worked on a Philippines, and then he and other 20 crewman worked on a Hong Kong ship which is called Shatin Express. One day, the Shatin Express encountered a super typhoon at sea while transporting the cargo, and the ship's rudder and the propeller shaft went missing. The captain then worked with a tugboat company Drag & Drop Limited to toe the ship to the nearby port. However, the traction rope was broken when pulling, so Mr Antonio, the mechanical engineer of the ship, decided to reattach the traction rope. However, because of the lubricating oil in the deck of the ship, Mr. Antonio slipped and was injured when the rope was towed. Originally, the agreement between Shatin Express Limited and Drag & Drop was that Shatin Express Limited gave Drag & Drop 20,000 dollars as compensation, but Drag & Drop thought that they were a salvage act, so they asked for 200,000 dollars as compensation. After receiving treatment, the doctor thought that the Mr. Antonio had to amputate. He asked Shatin Express Limited to pay him $400,000 first, but Shatin Express Limited had to pay the salary of 21 crew members, each of them was 10,000, and the total amount was 210,000. After Mr. Antonio inquiry, the Seamen's Union in the Philippines suggestion was not to recommend him to not sue Shatin Express Limited, because they only have a ship that was old and bad condition which could sale 400,000 dollars. In Mr. Antonio description, Shatin Express Limited should pay compensation to Drag & Drop, and the salary totalled 210,000 dollars. After paying these two moneys, Shatin Express Limited could not give Mr. Antonio any money. Mr. Antonio does not know whether he should accuse Shatin Express Limited. 

In my opinion, this issue is mainly related to maritime liens and general maritime claims. I think Drag's behavior is a kind of salvage, but this is a contractual salvage, so they can only get 20,000 credits. In the crew, Mr. Drag and Anthony, the ship staff and Mr. Anthony are the first to get compensation, but I am not very clear who can get the money first.