Maritime law is a tricky business. Ships have been around for much longer than cars and planes, and so, too, the laws that surround them. Most of the time, laws slowly evolve and adapt to the modern world, but, in the maritime industry, many old laws of the sea still exist. They haven’t changed much over time and, because of this, they don’t always act the way you think they will.
Take the Commercial Instruments and Maritime Liens Act, for example. Liens are a common aspect of civil law: For those not familiar with the term, they are essentially a right to someone’s property when they owe you money. When you take out financing on a car, for example, the lender has a lien on your car. Until you pay the loan back, your car is effectively theirs.
Compared to normal liens, however, maritime liens don’t quite work the way you would expect. To begin with, no matter what the maritime lien is for, it acts only against the ship and not its owner. Wherever the ship goes—including to a new owner—the lien goes with it. As well as this: If there isn’t enough value on board the ship when claiming the lien, you don’t have a right to any of the owner’s other property!
These are just a few examples of how complicated and different maritime liens can be. To find out more about how they work and how they affect your rights and the rights of almost everyone at sea, read the following infographic.
