York Antwerp Rules
The York Antwerp Rules are an international body of regulations in the maritime field regarding protocols of jettison of cargo. The York Antwerp Rules have become widespread in international merchant shipping.
What are York Antwerp Rules about
The York Antwerp Rules were developed in 1890. This is a code of rules concerning maritime regulation with a number of amendments that have been made since their inception. The York Antwerp Rules describe the rights and obligations of parties, namely the shipowner and the cargo owner, in the event of a situation where the cargo must be thrown overboard for rescuing the ship.
Commonly, the York Antwerp Rules are included in bills of lading, charter contracts and marine insurance policies. The York Antwerp Rules are based on three fundamental tenets, which must be met in full. The first condition is the imminence of a threat to the ship. The second one is that to save the whole board, a fraction of the cargo of the ship must be voluntarily jettisoned. The third important condition is that trying to avoid the threat must be crowned with success.
When a certain situation assumes the full meeting of all three stipulations, the parties engaged in the marine adventure are obliged to share proportionally the financial losses incurred by the owner of the cargo, which was jettisoned to save the board.
More about York Antwerp Rules
The York Antwerp Rules codify a principle known as the law of general average, which is considered to be an older maritime concept that appeared in Ancient Greece. The law determines the proportionate sharing of all the losses resulting from the sacrifice of cargo for salvation of the vessel by the parties participating in the marine adventure.
If the crew consider any situation arising at sea to be life-threatening, whether it is hull damage or natural disasters, they can make a decision to jettison a cargo portion. This action is used in the maritime sector as the last resort, which suggests an extremely dangerous situation requiring a lightning-fast decision from the captain and the crew in order to stabilize the board, sometimes it means that they do not have time to realize whose cargo gets tossed. That is why the York Antwerp Rules are so important, as they allow compensating damages to persons whose cargo has been damaged or completely destroyed.
