Ever Given, General Average and Why Shippers Will Share the Costs of a Ship's Rescue
Maritime attorney Sean Pribyl spoke with Supply Chain Dive about the costs of the rescue of the ship Ever Given after six days stuck in the Suez Canal. The ship's owner declared a general average, which means that shippers will be required to share the expenses incurred during the rescue. Mr. Pribyl explained that this concept is hundreds of years old — cargo sometimes need to be thrown overboard in emergency situations to save ships, and general average developed as a way to spread the resulting losses.
"It's this idea of equitable sharing between a shipowner and cargo interest of certain losses, and that includes expenses that occurred during the voyage," he said. "These are extraordinary sacrifices made, or they are expenses incurred, to avert a peril that threatens the entire voyage, so it doesn't have to be jettison anymore. It's definitely matured over now several centuries."
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