While the coastguard was clear that they didn’t mean the bananas

this does not include perishable goods like foodstuffs.

everyone here IS following maritime salvage law.

The “long established” rule is: the owner has all rights to the cargo and wreck, but must compensate those who assist in recovery only if the owner agrees to assistance

The British maritime law that keeps getting referenced here was put into place initially to ensure that people would be compensated completely when assisting.

Previously, when it was a raw ‘handshake’ agreement, there would be negotiations before helping which delayed assistance, or Party A would screw over Party B with a low-ball reward, or Party B would just nope out of the situation for fear of not getting reimbursed and risk of damaging their own property.

The shipping company in this situation asked for assistance and sent a list of missing stuff, especially since they were threatened with penalties for creating a hazardous waterway. If you find missing stuff, you report it, and the government knows already how much you should be compensated and makes sure you get it. In this case, the company wants their expensive refrigeration equipment.

I have no idea if they offer a reasonable amount, but this was the intent.