Shipwreck salvaging

"Shipwreck" redirects here. For other uses, see Shipwreck (disambiguation).

A player's crew salvaging from mercenary shipwrecks whilst they sort the salvage.

Shipwreck salvaging is a low-intensity gathering activity in Sailing where players move adjacent to shipwrecks across the ocean, deploy their salvaging hook, and collect salvage for small amounts of Sailing experience. Crewmates can be commanded to operate salvaging hooks for reduced experience.

Notable resources from shipwreck salvaging include farming seeds, salvaging relics, the Boat bottle, the Facility bottle, the Sailors' amulet, and dragon materials for shipbuilding.

Official worlds

The following official worlds are assigned to salvaging. World 486 (US East) is also considered an unofficial world.

World	Location	Members	Activity
596	United States (east)	1	Salvaging
597	United States (east)	1	Salvaging

Shipwrecks

There are 8 types of shipwrecks available. In general, larger shipwrecks allow for longer idle time and improved experience rates.

Some shipwrecks are located in hazardous waters. If the ship does not meet the requirements to be there, the player will receive the message it is not safe to salvage while in hazardous waters. The first time a player may encounter this message is when attempting to salvage a Barracuda shipwreck within the Storm Tempor area since it requires at least an oak mast.

Level	Shipwreck	Image	Salvaging XP	Salvage	Sorting XP	Average duration	Notable drops	Useful items	Map
15	Small shipwreck		10	Small	5.5	1 minute	Rusty locket Boat bottle Beginner clue scrolls	Plank sack (if banking) Log basket (if banking)	Map
26	Fisherman's shipwreck		17	Fishy	9	3 minutes	Mouldy block Boat bottle Easy clue scrolls	Tackle box Log basket (if banking) Plank sack (if banking) Fish barrel (if banking) Knife (for Fish offcuts; may not be worth for Main Accounts)	Map
35	Barracuda shipwreck		31	Barracuda	15.5	3 minutes	Dull knife Boat bottle Hemp seeds Flax seeds Medium clue scrolls	Seed box Plank sack (if banking) Log basket (if banking) Fish barrel (if banking) Knife (for Fish offcuts; may not be worth for Main Accounts)	Map
53	Large shipwreck		48	Large	24	3 minutes	Broken compass Facility bottle (empty) Hemp seeds Cotton seeds Camphor seeds Elkhorn frags Pillar frags	Seed box Chisel (if processing oysters) Gem bag Plank sack (if banking) Log basket (if banking) High Level Alchemy + Rune pouch (if alching) Ring of suffering and Lvl-1 Enchant runes, for turning sapphire rings into rings of recoil and storing the charges	Map
64	Pirate shipwreck		76	Plundered	31.5	3 minutes	Rusty coin Facility bottle (empty) Dragon cannonballs	Chisel (if processing oysters) Gem bag High Level Alchemy + Rune pouch (if alching) Ring of suffering and Lvl-1 Enchant runes, for turning sapphire rings into rings of recoil and storing the charges	Map
73	Mercenary shipwreck		138	Martial	63.5	3:15 min	Broken sextant Facility bottle (empty) Camphor seed Ironwood seeds Dragon cannonballs Salvor's paint Umbral frags Hard clue scrolls	Seed box Log basket (if banking) High Level Alchemy + Rune pouch (if alching)	Map
80	Fremennik shipwreck		162	Fremennik	75	3:40 min	Smashed mirror Facility bottle (empty) Cotton seeds Umbral frags Ironwood seeds Rosewood seed	Seed box Plank sack (if banking) Log basket (if banking) Soul bearer (for ensouled troll heads) Knife or Chum station (for Fish offcuts; may not be worth for Main Accounts) High Level Alchemy + Rune pouch (if alching)	Map
87	Merchant shipwreck		200	Opulent	95	4 minutes	Mouldy doll Facility bottle (empty) Dragon cannonballs Dragon nails Dragon cannon barrel	Seed box Herb sack Gem bag Chisel (if cutting Opal/Jade/Topaz) High Level Alchemy + Rune pouch (if alching facility bottle and Ironwood repair kit) Ring of wealth (to improve drops from the gem drop table)	Map

Success rate

Higher-level salvaging hooks and a higher Sailing level increase the likelihood of successfully receiving salvage for both the player and their crewmates. The chance for crewmates is a percentage of the player's that scales with deckhandiness (D); 10% for D=1, 20% for D=2, etc.

For example, if the player has a 40% chance to receive salvage at a given shipwreck with a given hook, Jobless Jim (D=3) has approximately a

40% * 30% = 12%

chance in the same configuration (the exact ratio may be slightly higher or lower than 30%, due to integer arithmetic).

Crewmates also roll to harvest salvage less often than players, every 5 ticks versus every 4 for players.

Using the same example as above, over 40 minutes of non-stop salvaging a player rolls 1,000 times, receiving

1,000 * 40% = 400

salvage. In the same 40 minutes, Jobless Jim rolls 800 times and receives

800 * 40% * 30% = 96

salvage.

If a player receives X experience for one salvage, then Jim, having a deckhandiness of 3, receives

30% * X

. Thus the ratio of XP from Jobless Jim to XP from the player is

(96 * 30% * X) / (400 * X) = 7.2%,

or

D²/125

in general. Since a crewmate's XP/hour scales with the square of their deckhandiness, Cabin Boy Jenkins and Jolly Jim are potent upgrades over lower-tier crewmates.

Shipwreck salvaging level requirements are boostable. The player must maintain the boost while attempting to salvage. Crewmates will also salvage based on the player's own level and will stop when the boosted level drops below the required level. Additionally, this must be a visible boost; the invisible +2 from a Keg of whirlpool surprise does not allow players to salvage above their level. Boosts beyond level 99 have no effect when salvaging.

Deckhandiness		XP	Salvaging chance	Crew XP / player XP
1		10%	10%	0.8%
2		20%	20%	3.2%
3		30%	30%	7.2%
4		40%	40%	12.8%

Strategy

Main article: Sailing training § Shipwreck salvaging

To start salvaging, only a raft equipped with a salvaging hook is required. Salvage obtained from shipwrecks can then be sorted into items at a salvaging station found at most ports. At level 42 Sailing, a salvaging station (via the salvaging station schematic) can be built on the player's boat, allowing the player to sort salvage while at sea and remain at a shipwreck site indefinitely if dropping loot.

To start efficiently salvaging, players can build a sloop with two highest-level salvaging hooks available, a large cargo hold, and a salvaging station.

One crewmate is enough to start out if under level 55 Sailing but two crewmates allows the player to have both salvaging hooks in operation at all times. Crewmates will automatically store cargo into the ship's cargo hold, but will stop salvaging once the cargo is full.

Inventory setup	Boat setup
1000 5000 1000 1000 An example salvaging inventory setup containing a Divine rune pouch with runes for Alchemy, coins, and a chisel.	An example of a salvaging boat layout containing hired Crewmate(s), 2 Salvaging hooks, and a Salvaging Station.

Two crewmate efficient sloop setup

Dragon salvaging hooks can only be operated by Crewmates with +4 Deckhandiness. As Cabin Boy Jenkins and Jolly Jim are the only two crewmates that meet that requirement, both are required if the player wishes to assign crewmates to two dragon salvaging hooks at the same time.

The ideal setup for using both hooks with the help of 2 Crewmates whilst also using the crystal extractor is as follows:

Notes:

• Multiple kegs with same drink will not stack, but you can have multiple effects from different drinks
  • Horizon's lure grants 2.5% experience boost
  • Whirlpool surprise provides an invisible +2 Sailing boost to improve the salvaging rate while manually salvaging
  • Kraken ink stout increases ocean encounters while travelling

Spawn mechanics

All shipwrecks in an area share a common spawn pool, and only a limited number (typically 4 of the 6 shipwreck sites) can be active at once. Once any player begins to salvage a shipwreck, a despawn timer will start for that specific shipwreck (see durations in the above table). When the timer ends, that shipwreck will sink and no longer be salvageable until it respawns. The message You salvage all you can from the shipwreck before it is reclaimed by the sea. will be displayed when the timer ends. When one shipwreck sinks, another in the area immediately rises. Therefore having another player salvaging a different pair of shipwrecks in the same area as you creates a chance of your depleted wrecks rising again before you have to move, significantly improving the efficiency for both players. Alternatively, players may simply wish to salvage on one of the officially designated worlds where high player counts ensure rapid cycling.

Money making

The following money making guides are available for Salvaging, ordered by Sailing level:

Method	Hourly profit	Skills
Salvaging small shipwrecks	21,610	15
Salvaging fisherman's shipwrecks	24,267	26 9
Salvaging Barracuda shipwrecks	50,432	35 18
Salvaging large shipwrecks	194,936	53 30 55
Salvaging pirate shipwrecks	234,562	64 52 55
Salvaging mercenary shipwrecks	343,026	73 59 55
Salvaging Fremennik shipwrecks	249,047	80 72 55
Salvaging merchant shipwrecks	249,568	87 66 55

Changes

Date	Changes
5 December 2025 (Update)	Hotfix Players once again salvage at a 4-tick cycle. The increased success rates were retained. The amount of experience given for sorting salvage was increased back to its pre-nerf amount. The number of 'active' shipwrecks at each salvaging hotspot was increased, meaning every hotspot now has 2 inactive shipwrecks instead of 3 or more. The experience modifier for crewmate salvaging was reduced: Level 4 Deckhandiness modifier reduced from 70% to 40% Level 3 Deckhandiness modifier reduced from 60% to 30%
3 December 2025 (Update)	Player salvaging now runs on a slower 5-tick cycle (down from 4-tick), but with increased success rates across all shipwreck tiers: Small shipwrecks - increased by 11% Fisherman shipwrecks - increased by 14% Barracuda shipwrecks - increased by 15% Large shipwrecks - increased by 16% Pirate shipwrecks - increased by 21% Mercenary shipwrecks - increased by 18% Fremennik shipwrecks - increased by 16-21% Merchant shipwrecks - increased by 16-22% Experience given for sorting salvage was lowered for most types (e.g. sorting opulent salvage was decreased from 95 to 34). Crewmates will now remember their assigned task over logout, meaning they'll get right back to Salvaging even if you hop worlds. Crewmates' salvage range is now calculated from the hook's position instead of the boat's position. Crewmates now salvage at a rate of 5 ticks. Previously, they were bugged to salvage at a rate of 3 ticks. More 'double Salvage spots' have been added to every shipwreck hotspot.