TT’s latest StopLoss briefing, produced in collaboration with FIATA and the Global Shippers Forum, provides a straightforward summary of the topic, along with essential good practice advice. 

General Average (GA) is a global legal principle of maritime law under which all interested parties to a ‘maritime adventure’ proportionally share any losses or expenses resulting from a voluntary and intentional act on the part of the ship or cargo in order to save the remainder in an emergency. The concept of ‘maritime adventure’ sounds quaint but describes the total group of stakeholders involved in the voyage. GA is the system whereby a party to the adventure (most often the ship owner) can recover the extraordinary expenses/sacrifices that are necessarily incurred following some maritime incident, in protecting the cargo and/or preserving the ship. The costs are apportioned between the ship, its bunkers (sometimes owned by time charterers) and stores and the cargo (including containers) in proportion to their arrived values.