British shipowners are lobbying to stop a change in the rules governing one of the most emotive subjects in the maritime world - salvage fees.
Proposals to pay salvage firms for averting environmental damage are on the agenda.
The £300m-a-year salvage business revolves around London because of the role of the Lloyd's insurance market.
The International Salvage Union (ISU), also based in the City, favours the change, but shipowners in Britain and abroad are resisting any widening of the basis on which salvage firms are paid.
'We feel the 1989 Salvage Convention is working well and we do not wish to see any change,' said an industry source.
'Altering the convention could mean confusion and litigation. An international convention should give certainty.'
Salvage operators are paid ten to 12 per cent of the value of the ship and the goods on board. But the ISU says change is needed to make it worthwhile for salvage firms to attend where the value of a vessel and cargo may be low but the environmental damage would be high.
Meanwhile, ships in UK waters would have to carry 'wreck insurance' under a private member's Bill going through Parliament.
