General Average Declared for Ever Forward After Unsuccesful Attempts to Refloat the Ship

gCaptain ^ | 3/31/2022 | Mike Schuler

[Kartographer]

vergreen Marine, the owner of the stuck Ever Forward, has declared General Average following two unsuccessful attempts to refloat the ship in Chesapeake Bay.

The latest attempt took place Wednesday hoping to take advantage of a weather system that helped to raise tides about a foot higher than normal. Unfortunately, the refloating attempt was unsuccessful and there did not seem to be any movement of the ship.

In a statement, Evergreen said GA has been declared “in light of the increasing costs arising from the continued attempts to refloat the vessel.”

General Average is a maritime law principle requiring that the shipowner and cargo interests proportionately share in the costs associated with rescuing a vessel after a major casualty. When GA is declared, cargo owners are required to contribute to a GA fund before their cargo can be released.

[zeugma]

The law of general average is a principle of maritime law whereby all stakeholders in a sea venture proportionately share any losses resulting from a voluntary sacrifice of part of the ship or cargo to save the whole in an emergency. For instance, should the crew jettison some cargo overboard to lighten the ship in a storm, the loss would be shared pro rata by both the carrier[1] and the cargo-owners.

Thanks, that is interesting, and makes sense.

[zeugma]

It is a local pilot who was in charge of the ship, not the captain or the company.

I wonder if the ship gave them incorrect information about the draft of the ship. Could be it was over-laden, and they lied about it, and the draft, which caused the pilot to ground it.

[Jim Noble]

Everything you never knew about grounding and salvage can be found right HERE.

[CodeToad]

Lieutenant LCD will do all the work.

[1Old Pro]

Her draft exceeded the depth of the water.

You would think they would teach that principle in Captain School.

[PeterPrinciple]

General Average is a maritime law principle requiring that the shipowner and cargo interests proportionately share in the costs associated with rescuing a vessel after a major casualty.

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Didn’t know that.

But I don’t even know how far above sea level I live.

[Darksheare]

If they ground another one, I’ll laugh.