Beginnings of Marine Insurance
Thursday, November 27th, 2008
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Marine Insurance, protects the loss or damage of ships, cargo,terminals and any transportation vehicle or property through which cargo is transferred, gained or temporarily held from the point of origin to its destination. Marine Insurance law started in 1601 in England with the creation of a specialized chamber of assurance distinct from the other courts.
The Lord Chief Justice Mansfield in the middle of the eighteenth century, started combining merchant law with common law principles. The emergence of Lloyd’s of London, other competing insurance companies, a rapidly forming network of specialists like the ship brokers, bankers, admiralty lawyers and the spread of the British Empire made English law distinguished in this category which eventually became the basis for the modern practice of Marine Insurance Law. Nowadays, Marine Insurance is often clustered with Aviation and Transit (cargo) risks, otherwise known by the acronym ‘MAT’.