Salvage Industry Showed Signs of Recovery in 2024

The International Salvage Union (ISU) has released its annual statistics for 2024, revealing a modest recovery in the salvage industry compared to past years with gross revenue for ISU members reached $406 million. The figure is slightly up from $398 million in 2023.

ISU members provided 191 services throughout 2024, an increase from 184 services in the previous year. The statistics, which represent the only published measure on the state of the salvage industry, do not include information from non-ISU members.

A notable development was the significant rise in Lloyd’s Open Form (LOF) cases, which increased to 29 from just 16 in 2023. This generated $118 million in revenue, a substantial jump from $29 million in the previous year. The 2023 figure had represented the lowest level of LOF contracts for ISU members in the organization’s 30-year history of collecting statistics.

“These numbers at least show that the industry has stabilized compared with the low point two years ago but they are still well below the higher numbers from a decade ago,” said ISU President John Witte. “Sustaining the salvage industry so that professional contractors are available to respond around the world remains a focus both for ISU but also for the insurance and ship owning communities.”

Wreck removal continued to be a crucial income source for ISU members, generating $205 million from 40 operations in 2024, compared to $193 million from 30 services in 2023. This maintains the typical 50:50 split between emergency response and wreck removal in the industry’s income structure.

Emergency response services generated a total of $181 million, divided between LOF ($118 million) and other contracts ($63 million). SCOPIC revenue also saw an increase, reaching $20 million in 2024, up from $9 million in the previous year.

The ISU noted that its statistics represent income received during the calendar year rather than when services were provided, which can create a time lag in the reporting. All figures represent gross income in USD, from which contractors must pay their operational costs.