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The York-Antwerp Rules is a collection of maritime laws that control how damages and expenses are allocated among the participants in a sea trip when a part of the ship or its cargo is willingly sacrificed to save the rest in an emergency. This principle is known as the general average and dates back to ancient times.
The York Antwerp Rules were originally formally established in 1890 at a meeting held in York, England. They were subsequently updated and approved at a second conference held in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1895. The most recent time the regulations were changed was in 2016 during a conference held in New York by the Comite Maritime International (CMI), an international association of maritime lawyers and specialists.
Although the York Antwerp Rules are not required, they are frequently used as a guideline for resolving typical claims in business contracts and insurance policies. The regulations are divided into a preamble and 22 numbered rules that specify what defines a general average, what expenses are allowed, how to compute each party's share, and how to handle disagreements.
Some of the main features of the York Antwerp Rules are:
- Rule A states that there is a general average act when any extraordinary sacrifice or expenditure is intentionally and reasonably made or incurred for the common safety for the purpose of preserving from peril the property involved in a common maritime adventure.
- Rule B states that only such losses, damages, or expenses which are the direct consequence of the general average act shall be allowed as general average.
- Rule C states that the general average shall be adjusted according to the values of the property at the termination of the adventure.
- Rule D states that rights to contribution in general average shall not be affected by any fault or negligence of one of the parties to the adventure.
- Rule E states that any extra expense incurred in place of another expense that would have been allowable as general average shall be deemed to be general average and so allowed without regard to the saving, if any, to other interests.
- Rule F states that any salvage remuneration recovered by the property owners from a third party shall be credited to the general average to reduce the contribution of other parties.
- Rule G states that cargo, ship's materials, and stores, or any of them, necessarily used for fuel for the common safety at a time of peril shall be admitted as general average.
- Rule H states that wages and maintenance of master, officers, and crew reasonably incurred and fuel and stores consumed during the prolongation of the voyage occasioned by a general average act shall be admitted as general average.
- Rule I states that losses caused by or resulting from damage to machinery and boilers of a ship that is ashore and in a position of peril shall be allowed in general average when the damage is caused by an intentional sacrifice made to refloat the ship.
- Rule J states that losses caused by or resulting from damage to a ship and/or cargo intentionally caused for the common safety in loading or discharging cargo from a ship that is ashore or stranded shall be allowed in general average.
- Rule K states that damage done to a ship and/or cargo by water that goes down a ship's hatches opened or other opening made for the purpose of making a jettison for the common safety shall be allowed in general average.
