Merchant Shipping Act 1786 facts for kids
| Act of Parliament | |
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| Citation | 26 Geo. 3. c. 86 |
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Quick facts for kids Other legislation |
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| Repealed by | Merchant Shipping Repeal Act 1854 |
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Status: Repealed
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The Merchant Shipping Act 1786 was an important law passed in 1786 by the Parliament of Great Britain. This law was created to help protect shipowners from losing too much money if something bad happened to the goods they were carrying on their ships.
Contents
Why This Law Was Needed
Before this law, shipowners faced big risks. If cargo was lost or damaged, they could be held responsible for a lot of money. Some recent court cases had shown that shipowners needed more protection. So, a group of shipowners asked Parliament to create a new law. Parliament agreed and passed the Act without any arguments.
What the Act Did
The Merchant Shipping Act 1786 had a few main rules to help shipowners:
Limiting Responsibility for Robberies
- This part of the law said that if goods were stolen from a ship, the shipowner's responsibility was limited.
- It didn't matter if the robbers were part of the ship's crew or not.
- The shipowner would only have to pay up to the value of the ship itself, its equipment, and any money they were due for carrying the goods.
- This rule made an older law from 1733 stronger. The older law didn't protect shipowners if a robbery happened without the crew's help.
No Responsibility for Fire Damage
- This section completely removed a shipowner's responsibility if cargo was lost or damaged due to a fire.
- This change happened because of a court case where a shipowner had to pay for losses from an accidental fire. The new law made sure that wouldn't happen again.
Rules for Valuable Items
- If very valuable items like gold, silver, jewels, or watches were stolen, the shipowner was not responsible at all.
- However, this rule only applied if the bill of lading (a document listing the cargo) did not clearly describe what these valuable items were, their quality, and their worth.
- This encouraged people sending valuable goods to be clear about them on the shipping documents.
When the Act Ended
This important law was eventually cancelled, or repealed, in 1854. This happened when Parliament passed a new and bigger law called the Merchant Shipping Act 1854.
See also
- Merchant Shipping Act
