Wreck

Wreck in United Kingdom

Meaning of Wreck

The following is an old definition of Wreck [1]: By the ancient common law, was where any ship was lost at sea, and the cargo or goods were thrown upon the land. Such goods as, after a shipwreck, are cast upon land by the sea, and left there, within some county. A ship beconles a wreck when, in conse- quence of injury received, she is rendered absolutely unnavigable, or unable to pursue her voyage, without repairs exceeding the half of her value. That ” admiralty has no jurisdiction of the wrecli of the sea ” does not refer to property deemed wreek or stupwrecked, in the sense of the maritime or commercial law, but to ” wreck of the sea ” in the purely technical common-law sense. The act of December 23, 1852 (R. S. § 4136), authorizes the issue of a certificate of register or enrollment for any vessel built in a foreign country, but wrecked in the United States, and purchased or repaired by a citizen thereof. ” Wrecked ” here applies to a vessel disabled and rendered unfit for navigation, whether this condition has been caused by the winds or the waves, by stranding. Are, e:splosion of boilers, or other casualty. At common law, to constitute a legal wreck, the goods must come to land. If they continue at sea they are jetsam, flotsam, or ligan. qsee, in this resource, the term Wreck, by the common law of England, belonged to the king or his grantee; but within a year and a day the true owner could claim it or the proceeds. Here, sea-shore rights were vested in the Colonies; and wreck belongs to the owner of the shore where it is cast, as against a stranger claimant. The States may by legislation regulate property in wrecks.0 Stealing or destroying money or goods from or belonging to any vessel, boat, or raft, in distress, lost, or stranded, or willfully obstructing the escape of any person endeavoring to save his life from such vessel, etc., or holding out any false light or extinguishing any true light, with intent to bring any vessel, etc., on the sea into danger, distress, or shipwreck, are felonies, punishable by fine up to five thousand dollars and with as much as ten years imprisonment.1 See Admiralty; Bilged; Loss; Mabitime; Salvage; Stranding.

Resources

Notes and References

  1. Concept of Wreck provided by the Anderson Dictionary of Law (1889) (Dictionary of Law consisting of Judicial Definitions and Explanations of Words, Phrases and Maxims and an Exposition of the Principles of Law: Comprising a Dictionary and Compendium of American and English Jurisprudence; William C. Anderson; T. H. Flood and Company, Law Publishers, Chicago, United States)

Posted

in

, ,

by

Tags:

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *