Shared burdens: The General Average adjustment of the Jan Maria

S.C.P.J. Go

doi:10.1177/08438714211013585

Shared burdens: The General Average adjustment of the Jan Maria

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

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 language	English
Pages (from-to)	322-343
Number of pages	22
Journal	International Journal of Maritime History
Volume	33
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/08438714211013585
Publication status	Published - May 2021

Bibliographical note

Published online: 21 June 2021.

© The Author(s) 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.

Funders	Funder number
Samenwerkende Maritieme Fondsen
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme	724544
European Research Council

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 14 Life Below Water

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10.1177/08438714211013585

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Shared burdens: The General Average adjustment of the Jan Maria

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

UN SDGs

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