No, it does make it easier. There s the classic case of a father and son on a fishing boat in the Gulf of Mexico who came a cross a tanker which had been on fire. The crew had abandoned ship and it was deserted but the fire had gone out. The fishing boat was small and yu can only claim salvage if you succeed in doing something. The family team put a line on the tanker and they contracted tugs to assist. As such they were in charge of the salvage and made millions.
On the other end of the scale I was called out couple of months ago to ship dragging its anchor. By the time I got there it had sorted itself out. They had however called for assistance so we got a few hundred pounds each.
You can also claim salvage for firefighting although it was not possible for Southend pier the last time it burnt down, put that one down to PR.
Very complicated subject but the most heartwarming thing is helping people in need, namely Gordon Brown who gets 40%
Oh, and after last summer I reckon I could get a fairly good size ship onto Windermere, stright down the main road