Argentum Exploration Ltd v Republic of South Africa - [2024] UKSC 16, United Kingdom Supreme Court (Lord Lloyd-Jones, Lord Briggs, Lord Hamblen, Lord Leggatt and Lord Richards) - 8 May 2024

Salvage - Sovereign immunity - Salvaged silver bars - Customary international law - Meaning of phrase "in use or intended for use for commercial purposes" in relation to cargo - Meaning of "wreck" - Powers of Receiver of Wreck - State Immunity Act 1978, sections 10 and 13 - Merchant Shipping Act 1995, sections 236 and 239

This case concerned the rights of a salvor seeking reward for salvage services in retrieving a cargo of silver bars, owned by the South African Government, from a vessel lost in 1942. The vessel SS Tilawa, a passenger and cargo liner built in 1924, was on a voyage from Bombay to Durban at the end of 1942.