Know your Nautical terminology
Receiver of Wreck
A government official whose duty is to give owners of shipwrecks the opportunity to retrieve their property and ensure that law-abiding finders of wrecks receive an appropriate reward. In the UK, according to section 255 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995, wreck includes "jetsam, flotsam, lagan or derelict".
The Act does not define these terms, but they may be understood as follows:
Flotsam are goods lost from a ship which has sunk or otherwise perished which are recoverable because they have floated.
Jetsam are goods cast overboard (jettisoned) in order to lighten a vessel which is in danger of sinking, even if they ultimately perish.
Derelict is property which has been abandoned and deserted at sea by those who were in charge without any hope of recovering it. This includes vessels and cargo.
Lagan (or ligan) are goods cast overboard from a ship, buoyed so that they can be recovered later.
In 1997, nearly five million bits of Lego fell into the sea when a huge wave hit the container ship Tokio Express, washing 62 containers overboard. These derelict Legos are still washing ashore on the beaches of Cornwall & Devon in southwest England.
WWG1WGA
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
