Shared burdens: The General Average adjustment of the Jan Maria

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

© The Author(s) 2021.The Jan Maria was a Dutch schooner that, in 1883, en route from the Baltic to its home port, was forced to jettison cargo during a fierce storm, which resulted in a General Average (GA) procedure. GA refers to a method that redistributes damages that were deliberately inflicted by the master, in order to save the ship and its cargo, among all those parties that benefited from the action. The report of this procedure of the Jan Maria has been preserved and is exceptional in its completeness. It offers a unique view on a complex procedure and also on the coping mechanisms of small-scale entrepreneurs in a volatile business environment. In this article, I will explain the principle and functioning of GA, and I will argue that, in spite of financial innovations like marine insurance, GA remained an important part of risk management.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)322-343
JournalInternational Journal of Maritime History
Volume33
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 21 Jun 2021

Funding

I conducted part of this research as the Mr. Peter Rogaar Fellow of the National Maritime Museum in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. I am very grateful to the Samenwerkende Maritieme Fondsen and the National Maritime Museum for this unique opportunity. This research was concluded as part of the ERC Consolidator Grant Project ‘AveTransRisk – Transaction Costs and Risk Management during the First Globalization (Sixteenth- Eighteenth centuries)’ (Grant no. 724544). I am indebted to Maria Fusaro, Karel Davids, Gijs Dreijer, Pepijn Brandon, Fransesca Trivellato, Joost Schokkenbroek and participants of the EBHS conference in June 2018 for comments on earlier versions. I am also grateful to Marja Goud, Diederick Wilde and Bart Lahr for their assistance during my research fellowship at the National Maritime Museum. I conducted part of this research as the Mr. Peter Rogaar Fellow of the National Maritime Museum in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. I am very grateful to the Samenwerkende Maritieme Fondsen and the National Maritime Museum for this unique opportunity. This research was concluded as part of the ERC Consolidator Grant Project ?AveTransRisk ? Transaction Costs and Risk Management during the First Globalization (Sixteenth- Eighteenth centuries)? (Grant no. 724544). I am indebted to Maria Fusaro, Karel Davids, Gijs Dreijer, Pepijn Brandon, Fransesca Trivellato, Joost Schokkenbroek and participants of the EBHS conference in June 2018 for comments on earlier versions. I am also grateful to Marja Goud, Diederick Wilde and Bart Lahr for their assistance during my research fellowship at the National Maritime Museum.

FundersFunder number
Samenwerkende Maritieme Fondsen
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme724544
European Research Council

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Shared burdens: The General Average adjustment of the Jan Maria'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this