T +44 (0) 20 7327 5408/5407E +44 (0) 20 7327 6827E lloyds-salvage@lloyds.com In the past, shipowners sometimes used the ENVIRONMENT unnecessarily in situations of non-recovery; (z.B. traditional immobilization or light grounding on sand and mud soils for which the accident was minor and could be dealt with through a commercial towing contract or other fixed-price recovery contract. The “VOUTAKOS”, a typical “hook up and tow” case, resulted in a recovery price of $2.7 million when towing services were provided by subcontractors at a price of $874,122. It is not surprising that shipowners have concerns and doubts about the possible misuse of the LOF system. The use of Lloyd`s Open`s traditional “No Cure-No Pay” rescue contract has slowly but steadily declined. According to Lloyds Statistics, 255 LOF contracts were awarded in 1980, but only 37, the lowest record, in 2014. The clause is intended to cover the circumstances in which the owners of a ship have decided to terminate their payment obligations to SCOPIC (in accordance with clause 9 (i) of the SCOPIC clause), but the contractors are not able to exercise their own right to terminate SCOPIC, given that the owners do not offer an increased guarantee under clause 4 (ii) of SCOPIC. In the 1960s and 1970s, there were a number of aging oil tankers with skins[6] that grieved and let out huge carpets of crude oil. Our guest author, Johnson Chiu, compares the LOF to national salvage forms, BIMCO forms for towing and demolition of wrecks, and ISU forms. It concludes that the LOF will remain an important contract if the crew, the ship and the environment are in immediate danger, but that technological and communication advances make it attractive for shipowners to take into account other contracts for minor losses that do not immediately endanger the crew, the ship or the environment. . . .