Below is a list of terms and their descriptions. Not all terms in the database are described here as some of them are 'self-explanatory'. E.g. Storm
The words and phrases are also described within the web pages...look for the dashed underline:
The expenses which can befall ships and cargoes from the time of lading until their unloading (due to accidents, jettison, capture and unexpected expenses).
Elements that were at risk during the incident that led to the case of General Average and their value.
The total amount of 'Risk' for the voyage made up of contributions from the vessel, cargo and freight at the time of the incident. This value is used in calculating the compensation payable when a case of 'General Average' is declared.
The value of the vessel contributing to the total amount of risk at the time of the incident. This could be the entire value of the vessel, a half or a third and changed from place to place.
Freight is the payment for transporting goods. Risk to the Freight is the value of freight 'at risk' at the time of incident. This is not always included in the General Average calculations - see the individual cases for more information on this.
This is the value of each individual item of cargo contributing to the total risk at time of the incident.
Click here for a working example of an Average case
Click on the links below:
General Average – voluntary damage to cargo or ship shared between all interested parties
Particular Average – involuntary damage to cargo or ship borne by proprietor
Spanish silver coin, worth eight reales (hence the name), this was probably the most widespread currency on the global scale in the early modern period.
1 Pezza = 20 Soldi = 12 Denari
Scudo was a silver coinage of which all around Italy there were several different varieties.
1 Scudi = 20 Soldi = 12 Denari
The ship’s small boat is lost or deliberately abandoned
The ship’s equipment, masts, and/or sails are damaged directly by a force majeure with no intervention from the crew
A mast was broken as the direct result of a force majeure i.e. without any intervention on the part of the crew e.g. by a strong wind
Event involved a convoy
Mast deliberately cut by crew
Sail deliberately cut away by crew
Anchor line deliberately cut away by crew and anchor abandoned
Ropes other than the anchor line deliberately cut away by crew
The master deliberately decides to ground the ship to avoid a greater danger
Unforeseen circumstances force the ship to undergo a longer period of quarantine than envisaged
Accident caused by the firing of cannons
The so-called germination advice is properly a contract, since it creates a mutual obligation hitherto non-existent, this time concerning the inevitable, and therefore involuntary, damage. The chap. 192 of the Consulate should not give rise to misunderstandings: "Ship or ship that has to be delivered across land due to bad weather, or for any other case, the patron of the ship or ship must say and manifest in that bridge, and at that hour to merchants in the presence of the scribe, the nochiere, and the sailors. Gentlemen, we cannot hide that we do not have to give on land, and I say in this way that the ship should go over the stuff, and the stuff over the ship ... ». The strength of the sea took over, and the captain was left with only one choice, to propose to the merchants to face adversity in common by mutually committing to share the damage fairly. Here the consent of the merchants, unlike what happens with the advice that precedes the casting, is decisive.
Help is received from the port or from local inhabitants
The ship is attacked by a pirate, corsair, privateer, or ship of war
The ship encounters, sees, or receives news of a pirate, corsair, privateer, or ship of war but is not attacked
The ship is sequestered or forced to pay an extraordinary fine by a political authority. Includes the payment of avanias in Muslim ports
The merchandise is sequestered on the orders of a political authority
The ship is sequestered on the orders of a political authority
The ship is forced to take a detour from its scheduled route
The ship is unintentionally grounded upon rocks or shoals
The ship is damaged beyond repair or recovery
Water enters the ship and 'may' have damaged the cargo. Some statements report that water entered below deck and 'may' have damaged the cargo while others say that it 'did' damage the cargo.
When a ship entered a port or remained for longer than intended in a port for the sole purpose of avoiding a threat
Used to distinguish between the expressions used in the reports. Tempesta, burrasca, ecc. = storm; mar grosso, onde che trapassano la nave, ecc. = stormy sea
Water enters the lowest compartment of the ship’s hull
Bales
Small bales
Barrels
Casks
Small wooden crate, usually used for wine or dried fruits
Cases
Very small cases
Small cases
Generic name for a large packing item
Bundles
Used for cheese
Groups
Packs
Ingots
Pieces
Quarter packs
Rolls
Little rolls
Small sacks
Large sacks
Tub
Written proof of an event provided by competent local authority
Accident report with details of ship, voyage, and incident made before a relevant authority, theoretically a consul, hence the name
Accident report with details of ship, voyage, and incidente made before a relevant authority and with the subscriptions of witnesses
A filza is a bundle of documents joined together by a long nail or a string to be stored in an archive.
Book or file for the collection of data, notes, records of administrative, accounting, financial, personal and legal nature. It is bound and its pages numbered to avoid tampering.