Tales of flotsam and jetsam and the lore of the sea are just that, says Maritime lawyer Piers Davies.

They are tales from the 18^th and 19^th centuries and have no place on modern maritime law.

Containers are falling off the stranded Rena, photographed here this morning. Photo: NZDF.

Containers that wash ashore from the wreck of the container ship Rena are still someone's property.

'The container itself will belong to a container company, the contents of the containers are people's property,” says Piers.

'The insurer of the container, the insurer of the content of the goods – they do not become the property of anybody else.

'I know this flies in the face of common knowledge, but it hasn't been the situation for probably 100 years – but there you are, folk law continues.”

New Zealand's Maritime Transport Act 1994, sections 105 and 98B are the relevant laws.

Section 105 says if a person finds or takes possession of any wreck, which in section 98B includes shipping containers, they must notify the director of Maritime New Zealand.

If they are not the owner of it they must deliver it to the police or allow police to take possession.

'Then it goes on to say every person commits an offence who without reasonable excuse fails to comply shall in addition forfeit any claim to salvage and shall be liable to pay to the owner of the wreck double the value thereof, to be recovered in the same way as a fine,” says Piers.

'I would say if it just comes ashore then you are not going to have a salvage right. If you were a fishing boat and one of these containers was floating around, and you got hold of it and brought it in to port and told MNZ, then you might have a salvage claim in these circumstances.

'I would expect MNZ to be issuing orders to everybody not to do anything except under their specific instructions.

'They won't want amateurs coming around and trying to help and get salvage claims.

They will want to keep it well under control because otherwise they will have those fantastic scenes that were down on the beach in Cornwall, of people ripping open containers and getting onto motor bikes and riding them off.”

In January 2007 the MSC Napoli was beached in Cornwall. Some of her cargo came ashore and the town of Branscombe was overrun by looters who arrived to take away anything they could carry.

'At the Napoli, the Receiver of Wrecks was walking along the shore trying to stop these people stealing them,” says Piers.

Piers Davies is a partner with Wackrow Williams and Davies Ltd, Auckland.