Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Dedication
- Introduction
- 1 The shipmaster and the law
- 2 The shipmaster and the rise and fall of the admirals' courts
- 3 The shipmaster as owner, partner and employee
- 4 The shipmaster's on-shore responsibilities
- 5 The shipmaster's off-shore responsibilities
- 6 The shipmaster at sea: navigation and meteorology
- 7 The shipmaster at sea – seamanship
- Conclusion
- Appendices
- Select Bibliography
- Index
5 - The shipmaster's off-shore responsibilities
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 September 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Dedication
- Introduction
- 1 The shipmaster and the law
- 2 The shipmaster and the rise and fall of the admirals' courts
- 3 The shipmaster as owner, partner and employee
- 4 The shipmaster's on-shore responsibilities
- 5 The shipmaster's off-shore responsibilities
- 6 The shipmaster at sea: navigation and meteorology
- 7 The shipmaster at sea – seamanship
- Conclusion
- Appendices
- Select Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Relationships with merchant shippers
In addition to their mutual obligations set out in the charter-party, the shipmaster and the merchants who travelled on his ship with their goods, had further legal responsibilities to each other while at sea. Those are set out in Oleron and to a lesser extent in the Coutumier and follow practices developed by ‘long use and wont’.
Delayed and frustrated voyages
If a ship foundered between ports, the shipmaster had the option of repairing her or of transferring himself, with the cargo, to another vessel to continue the voyage. If the merchants did not accept his decision, the shipmaster was still able to claim his freight payment for that part of the voyage that had been sailed. When weather conditions delayed a ship in port for so long that the shipmaster ran out of money, he was permitted to send home for more funds. Alternatively, he could sell as much as necessary of the cargo to revictual or repair the ship and, on arrival at their final destination, compensate the merchants for the ‘borrowed’ cargo at the same prices as they had obtained for the cargo which had arrived safely. The shipmaster nevertheless received his freight payment for the whole cargo for the whole voyage. These arrangements appear to be complementary to the prohibition on the shipmaster selling the ship without the owners' authority, although he could pledge equipment to borrow money for his necessary expenses, with the consent of his crew.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The World of the Medieval ShipmasterLaw, Business and the Sea, c.1350–c.1450, pp. 95 - 121Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2009