CASES IN WHICH THE SHIPOWNER IS NOT ENTITLED TO DEMURRAGE.

It has been held that the merchant is not liable to pay demurrage if the delay is caused by

The detention of the ship by a hostile force.
The hostile occupation of the intended port.
The wrongful interference of the shipowner, or any
fault or negligence attributable to him.

Repairs which the shipowner is bound to make
before the cargo is loaded.

The damaged condition of the ship, which may prevent her sailing.

Impossibility of the ship obtaining clearance, or

accidents of any kind, or frost or bad weather after the loading of the cargo is completed.

Thus, in the case of Jamieson v. Laurie the charterer undertook to load the ship before the first of September, but did not complete loading until the 28th of October. Just after sailing she met with an adverse wind and had to put back, and was frozen up all the winter. It was decided by the House of Lords that the shipowner was only entitled to demurrage up to the 28th of October, the day when the ship was cleared out and ready to sail. The ship, however, might have returned in ballast after the 1st of September and then claimed dead freight.

If the charter exempts the merchant from liability for delay by ice, that will protect him, not only in respect of delays caused by ice in the port of shipment, but also by ice which may prevent the cargo from being brought to the port from the place whence it is usually obtained.

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DEMURRAGE WHILE REPAIRING DAMAGE.

In case damage is wrongfully done to a ship by collision or otherwise, the owner of the injured vessel is entitled to claim, in addition to the amount of damage done to her, compensation for the loss he has sustained by her non-employment during the repairs.

In the Court of Admiralty the amount allowed for damages during repairs is twopence per ton per day when the crew have been discharged; threepence per ton per day when part of the crew have been discharged and the master and mate only remain; and fourpence per ton per day when whole crew is on board. For steam vessels the rate allowed is higher.

GENERAL AVERAGE.

N respect of certain losses which happen in time of danger to either the ship or cargo for the joint benefit of both, the owner of the property so damaged is entitled to be reimbursed for a proportionate part of his loss by a "general average" contribution from the property to save which such loss was incurred.

A loss will not be the subject of a general average contribution unless it is either

Ist. Some voluntary sacrifice of part of the ship or cargo to prevent the whole from perishing; or,

2nd. Some extraordinary expense incurred for the common benefit of both ship and cargo.

When the loss occurs, the amount of it is divided among everything which has been benefitted by it.

The loss must not be from an ordinary peril of the sea, but a deliberate and voluntary sacrifice by the act of man, in time of danger, and done with the intention of benefitting the whole adventure by preventing a greater loss or damage. For instance, if goods are thrown overboard to lighten a vessel in a storm, it is a general average loss; but if they are only washed overboard by the sea, it is not. If masts and sails or cables are cut away and abandoned for the preservation of ship and cargo,

*Deck loads, however, are only contributed for in general average when it is usual in the trade to carry deck loads. The underwriters, on an ordinary policy of insurance, are, by custom, not liable for a loss by jettison of a deck cargo, and therefore, if a deck cargo is jettisoned, the owners of the ship and cargo must bear the loss between them without having recourse to their underwriters.

that is a general average loss; but it is not so if they are merely destroyed by a gale, or by carrying too much press of canvas, or if they are merely cut away because they cannot be saved. If the ship is voluntarily run ashore to prevent her foundering, and she is afterwards got off again, and able to perform her voyage, the expense will be a general average loss; or if, in order to avoid impending danger, or to repair the damage done by a storm, the ship has to take refuge in a port to which she is not destined, that will give the ship a claim to a general average contribution for all the necessary expenses of bringing the ship into and clearing her from the port, including the cost of unloading and reloading the cargo, if necessary. But if she has to put in merely in consequence of contrary winds, &c., then the expense will not come into general average.

If any salvage services have been rendered, the shipowner is entitled to be reimbursed the amount in general average, as it is incurred for the common safety of the whole adventure.

To constitute a general average loss, there must be— Ist. A voluntary sacrifice made, or an expense of an extraordinary nature incurred.

2nd. It must be done with the object of preserving the remainder of the adventure. Therefore there cannot be a general average unless the whole adventure has been in peril.

3rd. It must be under the pressure of real danger, and as the sole means of escaping destruction.

4th. The loss must be judiciously incurred; and 5th. It must be something quite beyond the ordinary duties or expenses of navigation (which would be mere wear and tear, and would fall on the shipowner solely).

If any loss occurs which will give rise to a general

average claim, the particulars should be carefully entered in the log, showing that the sacrifice was necessary, and that it was for the benefit of both ship and cargo.

The captain has a lien on the cargo till all general average claims due from it are paid, and in many cases it is very desirable for him to avail himself of his lien. If he cannot get the average adjusted in time, a bond to secure payment of it as soon as it can be adjusted should be obtained before the cargo is given up.

As a general rule general average only arises when something has been ultimately saved, excepting in cases where some extraordinary expenses have been incurred and money spent in the endeavour to save the whole ship and cargo, and in that case the person incurring these expenses is entitled to be repaid by a general average contribution, even if nothing whatever is ultimately saved.

The underwriters are not primarily liable to pay a general average loss direct to the person whose goods. have been lost or damaged; but after the assured has paid his contribution, they are liable to reimburse him a proportionate part of his loss in such proportion as the total amount they have insured may bear to the total value of the things insured at the time of the ship's sailing. The general practice, however, is for the underwriters to pay the amount, in the first instance, direct to the person to whom it is due.

AMOUNT OF THE LOSS.

The value of the property lost is to be taken at its value at the port at which the average is adjusted. Thus, in the case of goods jettisoned, when the average is adjusted at the end of the voyage, they are to be valued