Differnt possabilities
First the ships.
There are really four types of ships involved.
Regular commercial ships: They follow set routes and can be found simply by accessing the schedule from the corporation that owns them.
Subsidized merchants: Again they would have regular schedules, but depending on the contract might spend time off route. Again, arrive at their next schedualed stop the right week and you would find them.
Tramps:
I would expect two kinds of tramps. The infamous Captain Jamison goes whereever he can find a load. You don't know where he will be next week, becuase he does not know until he gets the load, and he is likely on the move in a few hours, just as soon as his load is on board.
The other type is the tramp that does not keep a regular schedule, but prefers several system. You might need to spend some time dockside talking with crews that operate in the same area, but after a while, some old crusty engineer might say, "Look at (system x), the captain used to haul for Big Local Corp over there, and they still spend a lot of port time there.
The other side of the credit slip is the target.
Salvedge on a ship that arrived in system derelict unless you are the ship reporting the arrival, it is out of range by the ti9me you hear the news.
On the other hand, the rescue at the research station on a remote system that is amber, it could be YEARS, or maybe even DECADES old and long forgotten when you find it an archive somewhere.
The point is Location of the event, and it's proximity to high traffic systems would determine how likely it would be for someone to beat you out.
Reading today's news looking for a quick score would be a quick way to go broke. Every other fool in system would be reading the same reports, and getting the same idea, and like the gold rush you are not likely to arrive before the lot is gone.
On the other hand, mining archives for interesting targets, and then spending time researching them would be a lucrative business for the couple of groups in the sector that do that sort of thing.
There would be long months of research with no income at all, and many finds might only pay the costs and a little bit extra to keep going. But the chance of the real salvage on that forgotten research station could retire the entire crew in one shot.
Ships lost with only a vague idea what system they might be in, abandoned research stations, military bases, and industrial complexes are all good targets. Also worlds that were abandoned after plauges, wars or other disasters are prime. The more hostile or the more inaccessible they are, the more potential they have for big scores. The older they are, the harder it will be to locate people that can give accurate info.
This type of operation would be a a combination of tracking public records, locating people who know something and are willing to talk, and stealing records that are not public.
It would also involve outfitting for conditions that you might only be able to guess at, and hostilities that you might or might not know about before you are trapped.
Survivors, active mechanical defenses, environmental conditions, dodgey life support, and dangerous power sources and drive systems are only some of the risks our brave crew might encounter without prior warning. Scatters, rivals, representatives of the original owners, competing salvage crews, pirates, Military, and mercenaries and local fauna are also threats that might appear.
Poor memories, incomplete or inaccurate records, drift of ships, and other factors can make even an apparent safe bet hard to collect.
Running a crew tring to salve that way might take weeks or months of game time, from the first archived news article, through data searches, and visiting, planet bound archives, to locating witnesses to pinning a location and outfitting the trip.
Exploring and assessing what you find, plus dealing with what ever baddies are present could take some time two.
Finally, the crew made a big score! Now how do you find buyers? How do you move what you found to the buyer?
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