Law of Tug and Tow and Offshore Contracts
Page 561
CHAPTER 13
Tug and tow and general average
Part A. the Special Issues Arising
General average and the York-Antwerp Rules
13.1 It is beyond the scope of this book to give any account of the law and practice relating to general average. The leading general text on this subject is Lowndes and Rudolf, The Law of General Average and the York-Antwerp Rules (14th edn, 2013, now edited by Richard Cornah and John Reeder QC). A basic definition of general average can be taken as follows (see Cooke, Voyage Charters (4th edn, 2014), para. 20.1):The principle which underlines general average is that where any property at risk in a maritime adventure is sacrificed where extraordinary expenditure is incurred, for the common safety, the owners of any property at risk should constitute to the loss and expense in proportion to the values of their property which has survived.