What does this terminology mean in this yacht transportation arrangement?

Founded in 1971

NO. 1213 AUGUST 18 - AUGUST 31, 2023

WRITE TO: 3980 Sherman Street, Suite 100 San Diego, CA 92110 (619) 313-4322

QUESTION :

I just bought a 65 ft. boat on the East Coast, and I am looking at di erent methods for transporting the boat to California. Since it’s too big for a truck, my options appear to be limited to sailing it here myself or loading it onto a ship. The ship would obviously save a lot of wear and tear on my boat, but I have a few questions about the process. First, I have noticed these ships will deliver a boat to Ensenada but not to California. Is there a reason for that? Second, the bill of lading includes some unfamiliar language. What is meant by a “package limitation,” and what is “general average?” Any insight that you can o er on this process would be very helpful.

David Weil is the managing attorney at Weil & Associates (www.weilmaritime.com) in Seal Beach. He is certi ed as a Specialist in Admiralty and Maritime Law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization and a “Proctor in Admiralty” Member of the Maritime Law Association of the United States, an adjunct professor of Admiralty Law, and former legal counsel to the California Yacht Brokers Association. If you have a maritime law question for Weil, he can be contacted at 562-799-5508, through his website at www.weilmaritime.com, or via email at dweil@weilmaritime.com.

ANSWER: The ships that are used in the yacht delivery trade are all foreign built and foreign registered. And most of the ships that deliver yachts from the U.S. East Coast will load their cargo in Florida. They discharge their cargo in Ensenada because they are prohibited by American “cabotage” laws from carrying cargo directly between two U.S. ports.

Cabotage laws require the transportation of passengers or cargo between U.S. ports to be performed aboard “U.S. agged” vessels (vessels registered under the laws of the United States), and U.S. built vessels. These laws are a form of protectionist legislation, and they have been a component of U.S. transportation law for over a century. The current cabotage statutes which establish these restrictions include the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 and its amendments (popularly known as the Jones Act), the “Passenger Services Act,” and various other provisions of the United States Code which de ne and regulate foreign vessels and U.S. Coastwise Trade.

A bill of lading for ocean transportation is

Please see ATTORNEY, PAGE 7

Is your pet as avid a boater as you? Send The Log pictures of your four-legged rst mate. Email your photo, contact information and a description about your pet and boat to thelogeditor@thelog.com

EDITORIAL/CREATIVE

Publisher Dave Abrams dave@maritimepublishing.com

General Manager Tammy Poole tammy@maritimepublishing.com

Operations Manager Kathleen Ford Kathleen@maritimepublishing. com

Editor Katherine Clements Katherine@maritimepublishing. com

Design/Production

Meredith V. Ewell

Contributors

JR Johnson, Bob Vanian, Catherine French, David Weil, Capt. Pat Rains

ADVERTISING SALES Susanne Krikham-Diaz susanne@maritmepublishing. com

(714) 315-4171

CLASSIFIED SALES Jon Sorenson jon@maritmepublishing.com (800) 887-1615

BUSINESS hello@maritimepublishing.com

(619) 313-4322

CIRCULATION / SUBSCRIPTIONS

(619) 313-4322 subscribe@maritimepublishing. com

THE LOG ONLINE AND NEWSLETTERS thelog.com

Newsletters To subscribe to the Log's Newsletter, go to thelog.com

The Log, San Diego Log and FishRap are registered trademarks of Maritime Publishing, Copyright 2023, all right reserved. No part may be reproduced in any form without the prior written permission of the publisher.

“Our dog Pippa is [a 9-year-old] Brussels Gri on, and enjoys boating with the family aboard our MacGregor,” said Pippa’s parent in an email to the Log. “We took our rst trip out to Catalina Island recently, and she was excited to see the dolphins jumping out of the water near the island. Onboard camping at a mooring was relaxing experience, and she did a fantastic job when my daughter took her to a small beach on her boogie board for a potty break.”

The Legend of Zelda

“This is Zelda enjoying the morning calm at Two Harbors, Catalina,” said Bradley Avery in an email to the Log. “[On] the back of our Jeanneau 349 sailboat.”

Attorney

From page 6 a classic example of “fine print legalese,” and I congratulate anyone who has the eyesight and the patience to actually read one of these documents. Unfortunately, bills of lading are drafted to protect the steamship company and to place most of the risk of the voyage on the owner of the cargo. Cargo owners are assumed to know and understand the contents of a bill of lading, and to take whatever steps they may deem necessary to protect themselves. This is a reasonable assumption if the cargo is owned by a large retailer or manufacturing company that imports a lot of cargo. But most people who retain a yacht transport company to ship their boat are not experienced shippers.

The most onerous concept in the ocean transportation of cargo is the limitation of liability provided under the U.S. Carriage of Goods at Sea Act (COGSA). Under COGSA, the steamship line may limit its liability to $500 per “package.” The definition of a “package” may be open to discussion, but a yacht will always be deemed to be a single package. As such, a steamship line’s liability for damage to your yacht may be limited to $500.00!

A bill of lading may also require a lawsuit to be brought within a very short period of time, and it may require a suit to be brought in a foreign country (China, for example) that had no connection whatsoever to the actual voyage.

The reference to “general average” is probably the least onerous term of a typical bill of lading. General average refers to a circumstance where the crew of a ship needs to sacrifice some of the cargo to save the ship after some sort of casualty. The classic example of this is where the crew throws cargo overboard to lighten the load after the ship has run aground. In such a case, the remaining cargo shares the loss of the cargo that was

News Briefs

From page 5

Offshore held at the Buenavista Resort at East Cape in Baja Sur.

The winning team, Wild Hooker, caught their 380-pound Black Marlin on the second day of the three-day event held in the East Cape, earning them $800,848 of the total Jackpot of $1,803,300. Their award was paid out on Saturday night on the sand beneath the stars at the picturesque Buenavista Resort, owned and managed by the Valdez Family since 1976.

The 24th East Cape Offshore is one of three events the Bisbee family operates in Baja Sur. This year’s 98 E.C.O. Teams competed for a record-shattering $1,803,300 cash prize.

Targeted species are Black Marlin, Blue Marlin, Dolphin, Sailfish, Spearfish, and Striped Marlin, caught and released, with daily jackpots and overall trophies and cash prizes.

Total Team Payouts:

Wild Hooker $800,847.63

Stella June $696,482.38

Caprichoso $50,985.00

El Suertudo $49,725.00

Buenaventura $41,437.50 jettisoned, on the theory that “we’re all in this together.”

The simple solution to all of these one-sided contractual provisions is to get a cargo insurance policy for the voyage. This is extremely important, since a regular yacht insurance policy will generally not insure a boat that is being shipped as cargo. The shipping company will refer you to a company that offers cargo insurance, or you can get a referral from your regular insurance agent or broker. Talk to the cargo insurance people about the extent of coverage that may work for you and ask them to explain the bill of lading to you.

F inally, don’t rule out the trucking option completely. You may find it prohibitively expensive for a 65 ft. boat, but trucking companies do move boats of that size. The terms of a motor carrier’s bill of lading may include many of the same restrictions that are found in an ocean bill of lading, but it will nonetheless be a little less onerous. And a truck is not subject to the “cabotage” laws so it will deliver the boat directly to your nearest shipyard. The best solution, of course, is to talk to a maritime or transportation attorney and ask him or her to walk you through the process in greater detail.

David Weil is licensed to practice law in the state of California and as such, some of the information provided in this column may not be applicable in a jurisdiction outside of California. Please note also that no two legal situations are alike, and it is impossible to provide accurate legal advice without knowing all the facts of a particular situation. Therefore, the information provided in this column should not be regarded as individual legal advice, and readers should not act upon this information without seeking the opinion of an attorney in their home state.

Mi sueno $31,875.00

El Patron $31,875.00

BURRO $31,875.00

Team Crudo $31,875.00

LOS PLEBES $19,110.00

Retriever $17,212.50

TOTAL $1,803,300.01

The upcoming Two Multi-MillionDollar tournaments are still open for registration. For more information, please visit https://www.bisbees.com/ Tournament/BisbeesEastCape.

· Los Cabos Offshore, Los Cabos, B.C.S., MX, Fishing Days 10/20/2023 - 10/21/2023. Species: Black Marlin, Blue Marlin, Dolphin, Sailfish, Spearfish, Striped Marlin, Yellowfin Tuna.

· Bisbee Black and Blue, Los Cabos, B.C.S., MX, Fishing Days 10/25/2023 - 10/27/2023. Species: Black Marlin, Blue Marlin, Pacific Sailfish, Spearfish, Striped Marlin, Swordfish.

“We are thrilled and excited at the E.C.O. turnout,” said Wayne Bisbee, E.C.O. Tournament Director, in a press release. “And we are looking forward to October.”

Point Loma Marina

Jimmy’s Famous American Tavern

Open for Brunch Saturday & Sunday

Pier 32 Marina

Pier 32 Waterfront Grill

Open for Brunch Friday, Saturday & Sunday