Nathan Clifford

“ Losses in a sea risk which give a claim to general average are usually divided into two great classes: (1) Those which arise from a sacrifice of part of the ship, or part of the cargo, purposely made to save the whole adventure from perishing. (2) Such as arise out of extraordinary expenses incurred, by one of the parties, in the course of the voyage, for the joint benefit of the ship and cargo. ”

“ Courts, as well as text writers, at the present day, agree that where the ship is voluntarily run ashore to avoid capture, foundering, or shipwreck, and she is afterwards recovered so as to be able to perform her voyage, the loss resulting from the stranding is to be made good by general average contribution, as such a claim is clearly within the rule that whatever is sacrificed for the common benefit of the associated interests shall be made good by all the interests exposed to the common peril which were saved from the common danger by the sacrifice. ”

“ Whether the cargo was damaged by the stranding or by the antecedent peril of the sea was certainly a question of fact for the jury, and upon that subject the jury were told that if they found that no water entered the ship, which reached and damaged the cargo, except what came through the holes cut in the bows by the ice, then the defendants were not entitled to be allowed anything as general average for the damage to their cargo by water, as in that state of the case the damage to the cargo was the result of the prior peril and not of the act of stranding. ”