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G.
URRUTIA & COMPANY, plaintiff-appellant, vs. THE PASIG STEAMER AND LIGHTER CO., defendant-appellee.
March 22, 1912 | TORRES, J.
Admiralty and Maritime Commerce; Accidents and Damages in Maritime Commerce; Shipwrecks; Salvage Law
DOCTRINE/S: When a vessel becomes disabled at sea and flies signals of distress, and another ship renders assistance by
towing it, the service is salvage and not merely towage, nor is it necessary that loss be inevitable but only that there was at
the time a probable danger or reasonable apprehension thereof.
SUMMARY: Nuestra Senora del Pilar steamer saved San Juan steamer from the typhoon. Now, G. Urrutia (owner of
Nuestra) is asking for compensation for the salvage services that was rendered by its steamer. Pasig Steamer (owner of San
Juan) refuses to pay. SC held that it is just that there should be remuneration and recompense for the service rendered
under extraordinary circumstances by one steamer to another which had got beyond control of its engines during a
typhoon because a cable had become entangled in its propeller, thereby subjecting the steamer to the danger of
foundering or running a ground on adjacent islands.
FACTS:
1. This was an action to recover compensation or remuneration for salvage services rendered by the
steamer Nuestra Señora del Pilar to the San Juan, on an occasion when the latter was in imminent danger from a
cyclone then blowing and threatening it; a cable had become entangled in the propeller of the latter vessel thus
making it impossible for it to move in obedience to its machinery and exposing it to the mercy of the storm.
2. It was alleged that, had it not been for the help of Nuestra Senora del Pilar, the San Juan steamer and her cargo
would have been totally lost which has an actual and cash value of P100,000.
o It was averred that the just and adequate remuneration for the salvage services rendered by plaintiff's
steamer is P40,000.
o However, the defendant did not pay the same and has been delaying payment under flimsy pretexts.
o As such, the plaintiff prays to the court that it render judgment in its favor for the sum of P40,000, with legal
interest.
3. The trial court ordered The Pasig Steamer and Lighter Company, to pay to G. Urrutia & Co. the sum of P1,650,
together with interest thereon at the rate of 6 per cent from the date of the presentation of the complaint, May
19, 1909, and to bear the costs of the trial.
ISSUE: WoN G Urrutia & Co. is entitled to compensation – Yes.
RULING:
Legal basis
In the absence of express legislation and legal precedent applicable to cases of salvage, recourse must be had, under
the second paragraph of article 6 of the Civil Code, to the customs of the place, and in default thereof to general
principles of law.
è If under article 1544 of the Civil Code, relative to the hire of services, the service rendered at ordinary
times and under ordinary circumstances requires remuneration, unless the same be expressly free and
gratuitous, it is just that there should be remuneration and recompense for the service rendered under
extraordinary circumstances by one steamer to another which had got beyond control of its engines
during a typhoon because a cable had become entangled in its propeller, thereby subjecting the steamer
to the danger of foundering or running a ground on adjacent islands.
è The principle has been established by the courts of the United States that, when a vessel becomes
disabled at sea and flies signals of distress, and another ship renders assistance by towing it, the service
is salvage and not merely towage, nor is it necessary that loss be inevitable but only that there was at
the time a probable danger or reasonable apprehension thereof.
Compensation in such cases as that which occurred to the San Juan, deserves to be considered as a reward for the
service rendered by the Nuestra Señora del Pilar in the midst of a peril to which the rescued as well as the salving
steamer was exposed, and it is proper that such reward should be made, not only because of the salvage of the
vessel and of the goods it carried and the rescue of its crew, but also in order that it may serve as an incentive to
render prompt and efficient aid in such cases when requested by those who in the midst of such unfortunate
circumstances are urgently in need thereof. It should also be borne in mind that the Nuestra Señora del Pilar is a
merchant vessel and as such should with more reason be favored for the service which it rendered to the San Juan,
which perhaps otherwise might have been lost with all its cargo and crew.||| .
DISPOSITION: For the foregoing reasons, it is our opinion that the judgment appealed from should be
affirmed; provided, however, that the defendant, The Pasig Steamer and Lighter Co., shall pay to the plaintiff, G.
Urrutia & Co., the sum of P5,000, with interest thereon at the rate of six per cent per annum from May 19, 1909,
when the complaint was filed, until its complete payment, and shall also pay the costs of the case.

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ISSUE: WoN G Urrutia & Co. is entitled to compensation – Yes.

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