Quote :

"By the time they had finished, about £1million-worth of cars, motorbikes, spare parts, bric-a-brac and countless items of treasure trove must have been liberated, salvaged, scavenged or rescued – not to mention stolen – from a once peaceful little seaside idyll. This was how the great Branscombe Beach booty bonanza unfolded as hundreds descended on a stretch of pebble shoreline that would normally be deserted at this time of year. It had been turned overnight into a golden mile of treasure trove when a stricken cargo ship spilled 103 large containers into the waters close to shore. It sounded too good to be true. But shortly after dawn, small groups of modern-day wreckers were almost coming to blows as they argued over who laid the first claim to a brand new £12,000 motorcycle, unmarked and untouched by the salt water All over the beach, locals and visitors scavenged bits and pieces from the wrecked containers. No here’s a challenge: How do you get a BMW gearbox off the beach when it’s almost too heavy to lift. "Any way you can," said the man in the camouflage jacket and jeans. "They’re probably worth about two grand each. There’s 21 of them here and I ain’t leavin’ ’em – no way." As he speaks, gearbox number one disappears slowly along the beach on a wooden pallet, dragged by some mates for more than a mile. If they ever get their £2,000, they probably deserve it just for that The woman confides that she has also rescued a BMW car first aid kit, and asks me if I think anyone will mind. Bearing in mind that the £2,000 gearbox team is just about to start its second run, and that someone seems already to have liberated 50 brand new BMW motorbikes, I suspect not."

50 bmw bikes, 21 bmw gearboxes


oh and here is the ship

1/22/2007 8:27:36 PM

people are stupid. for some reason they think it's okay to take this stuff? it's the same as if they broke into a dealership.

they can't do anything with the bikes but part them.

1/22/2007 8:32:39 PM

thats hilarious.

1/22/2007 8:37:54 PM

i wonder if the bikes have the keys in the ignition. nah tht would be just too easy :d

1/22/2007 8:39:59 PM

As far as I'm concerned they are cleaning up the beach. Its not like all that stuff wasn't insured anyway.

1/22/2007 9:18:44 PM

Cleaning up the beach my ass, look at the first picture. If anything they are just making it much worse

1/22/2007 9:22:20 PM

Quote :

"they can't do anything with the bikes but part them."

you're an idiot.

1/22/2007 9:43:17 PM

its called a screwdriver...

1/22/2007 9:56:56 PM

can you post the link to the news article?

1/22/2007 10:29:57 PM

you dont think that BMW knows the VINs on all those bikes?

they wont be able to be registered

1/22/2007 10:32:05 PM

well apparently, they can claim the possession of property that they find on the beach as long as they report the findings in 28 days. Not sure about the legal process over there... But I'd say that companies and people will take the insurance money. And I also highly doubt they'd be able to register the bike... If they did, it prolly be listed with a COD and not be legally road worthy. Still... free bike

1/22/2007 10:46:41 PM

Quote :

"you're an idiot"

ok asshat, then please bestow upon us all your grand knowledge of stolen motorcycles in other countries and the multiples of logical options one has to choose from with a stolen motorcycle.

1/22/2007 10:52:26 PM

hey if my sunglasses fall into the ocean and someone found them floating and picks them up did they steal them....

no...

this is dumb but fuck... its big business their loss our gain...

1/22/2007 10:56:22 PM

^ lol that is retarded. 2 dollar sun glasses and a 20,000 dollar bike is a lil bit of a difference.


it's not like bmw doesnt know where there shit went either. it's on the beach right next to the wrecked ship. im surprised they havent sent anyone out there yet.

1/22/2007 11:02:27 PM

if you want to get technical about it, it would be stealing. the sunglasses should be turned into whatever law enforcement department has jurisdiction. or at least some attempt to return them to the rightful owner.

just because this stuff comes from a company that can afford to lose some money makes it okay to compromise basic values/morales? what if it came from a small, struggling, independent company just starting out, and every sale they make is critical to their survival?

besides, a pair of sunglasses a motorcycle are two different things. goes a little beyond the finders keepers thing.

i'd be interested to know if there is some law like JBaz mentioned. hopefully our resident expert of all things washed up on a beach, slut, will enlighten us.

1/22/2007 11:06:15 PM

FREE TIBET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1/22/2007 11:12:19 PM

saltwater salvage law is generally finders keepers, not sure if that applies when something washes onto shore.

well i just googled law of salvage and law of finds, its not that simple but it looks like salvaging that stuff will still get you money.

[Edited on January 22, 2007 at 11:23 PM. Reason : .]

1/22/2007 11:21:01 PM

^are those international laws? if not, remember this isn't the U.S. also, what exactly defines salvage? i don't consider brand new bikes and parts to be salvage, but maybe they are under the law.

either way, it still doesn't really leave these people with any legitimate options for the bikes except parting them out or track use, which is not going to be happening with the one pictured.

not sure about this place, but at least in the U.S. it's next to impossible to get a title without that document that bikes come with, i forget the name of it...

[Edited on January 22, 2007 at 11:30 PM. Reason : .]

1/22/2007 11:26:11 PM

international, and those are the phrases to google if you are curious

Quote :

"either way, it still doesn't really leave these people with any legitimate options for the bikes except parting them out or track use, which is not going to be happening with the one pictured. "

by salvaging something you have a legitimate claim to something and have a lein on the item until the owner can pay a reasonable security fee to take back ownership.

[Edited on January 22, 2007 at 11:45 PM. Reason : .]

1/22/2007 11:43:14 PM

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6287047.stm

Quote :

"If people take the cargo, they fill in a "report of wreck and salvage" form, with their contact details, what they found, where and when. "It's available from pretty much anybody in uniform down on the beach", she says. Her role is then to reunite owner and property. A reward to the finder could be offered, depending on the value of the goods, the condition they are in after rescue, and the effort involved in recovering them from the beach. Wheeling something home, she stresses, is "not classed as a huge amount of effort". Hiding the goods and not giving them back is a criminal offence, with a possible fine of up to £2,500 per offence. Plus, the hot-fingered beach-comber, would waive their right to a salvage award, and have to pay the owner twice the good's value: "In the case of a BMW motorbike, it could be quite expensive". "

1/23/2007 12:16:49 AM

^good link. i figured it had to be something to that effect, but wasn't positive being in europe.

hopefully slut the beach comber still has some creative ideas for us.

[Edited on January 23, 2007 at 12:29 AM. Reason : .]

1/23/2007 12:28:39 AM

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article2177995.ece

Quote :

"gnoring warnings that some of the lost containers held toxic liquids, hundreds flooded to the picturesque holiday spot to nose through the lost goods, insisting ­ as they stuffed their plastic bags ­ that they would do the legal thing and report their find to the receiver within 28 days. Sophia Exelby, of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), the " receiver of wreck", warned that failure to report any goods was tantamount to stealing and could result in a fine of up to £2,500. The wreck owners still legally possessed anything washed ashore, she explained, and were arranging for private security to guard the goods before their own recovery operation could get under way. "

1/23/2007 1:16:10 AM