Lloyds Open Form
The no cure no pay salvage agreement, its SCOPIC clause, and the arbitration route that settles the award.
Lloyds Open Form is the standard no cure no pay salvage agreement. The salvor is paid only on a successful outcome, the amount is left open at the time of signature, and it is settled afterwards by arbitration in London rather than negotiated on the casualty when the master has least bargaining power.
The SCOPIC clause, which either party may invoke, replaces the environmental element of the award with a tariff-rated remuneration payable by the shipowner protection and indemnity insurer. It exists because a pure no cure no pay structure gives a salvor little incentive to engage with a casualty that threatens pollution but has little salvable value.
The full article will cover the form and how it is signed, the criteria the arbitrator applies to fix an award, SCOPIC and its tariff and the special casualty representative, security and the protection and indemnity club letter of undertaking, and the relationship to general average and to the Salvage Convention 1989.