saber964 wrote:On the SLMS Emerald Dawn, it still belongs to the company that owns it because it is not salvage. The remaining crew was still aboard when it was recaptured by elements of the RMN/GSN and NSF. The Nuncian government can charge reasonable fees in the recovery of the ship and impound it as evidence in the pending trial, but once the trial and appeals are over and the fees paid it can be returned to the owners.
I'm not so sure about that. Oh, normally, you're right. No question about it. But we don't know how long that trial needs or how fast the owners got info about the vessel, how fast they decided, what should be happen with it and so on. It is at least in the realm of possibility that it was not finally decided and acted upon that decision at the time Byng came calling and started the current "unpleasentness".
So, in light of these events, maybe the new government in the Talbott quadrant likes to ... hold back the ship and/or its crew - simply in regard of the personal safety of the crew and the safety of the ship. After all, war is such a dangerous business to be trapped into for any unarmored Merchant vessel, isn't it? Better to stay in a safe harbor like Nuncio, which is protected by the RMN, Don't you think?