seaworthy

The ship should be in a condition to encounter whatever perils of the sea a ship of that kind, and laden in that way, may be fairly expected to encounter on the voyage

Is an adjective applied to vessels, signifying in good condition to be navigated; fit to go on her voyage. The proper meaning of the term, alone, is fit for general navigation, such as she is designed to engage in. But in a particular contract, or special connection, it may well mean capable and equipped for the particular voyage in contemplation. There is some distinction between the meaning of "seaworthy " and what will fulfil a particular warranty of seaworthiness. Seaworthiness: good condition for going to sea; fitness for voyaging, or for a special voyage in contemplation. No stress should be laid on " sea," in this compound, as meaning tidal waters. A vessel employed on non-tidal rivers or on the lakes may well be called seaworthy, if fit for the demands and exposures of service there. A warranty of seaworthiness means that the vessel is competent to resist the ordinary attacks of wind and weather, and is competently equipped and manned for the voyage, with a sufficient crew, and with sufficient means to sustain them, and with a captain of general good characfer and nautical skill. 3 Kent Com. 287. s. p. Draper u. Commercial Ins. Co., 4 Duer, 234. To constitute seaworthiness, as between carrier and owner of cargo, the hull of the vessel must be so tight, staunch, and strong as to resist the ordinary action of the sea during the voyage, without damage or loss of cargo. Dupont de Nemours v. Vance, 19 How. 162. It might have contributed to greater clearness and certainty in the rules of law on insurance, if the word seaworthiness had been confined to the sense in which it is most commonly used; that is, to designate the condition in which, by the wellknown implied warranty, every vessel must be at the commencement of the voyage, in order to be the subject of a contract of insurance, and, if some other word or form of words had been used, to describe that state the duty of the owners to keep and maintain their vessel, as far as it is in their power to do so, from time to time, during the whole progress of the voyage. But the word is used in this double aspect. Copeland V. New England Marine Ins. Co., 2 Mete. (Mass.) 432. The term seaworthy is somewhat equivocal.

In its more literal sense, it signiiies capable of navigating the sea; but.more exactly, it implies a condition to be and remain in safety, in the condition she is in, whether at sea, in port, or on a railway, stripped and under repairs. If, when the policy attaches, she is in a suitable place, and capable, when repaired and equipped, of navigating the sea, she is seaworthy. But where a vessel is warranted seaworthy for a specified voyage, the place and usual length being given, something more is implied than mere physical strength and capacity: she must be suitably officered and manned, supplied with provisions and water, and furnished with charts and instruments, and, especially in time of war, with documents necessary to her security against hostile capture. Capen v. Washington Ins. Co., 12 Cush. 517, 521. The term seaworthy, as used in the law and practice of insurance, does not mean, as the term would seem to imply, capable of going to sea or of being navigated on the sea: it imports something very different, and mucli more; viz., that she is sound, staunch, and strong, in all respects, and equipped, furnished, and provided with officers and men, provisions and documents, for a certain service. In a policy for a definite voyage, the term seaworthy means " sufficient for such a vessel..and voyage." Capen v. Washington Ins. Co., 12 Cush. 517, 536. Seaworthy does not, necessarily, mean a state completely fit for sea navigation; but includes a fitness for present navigation, either on a sea or river, of a vessel about to sail on either. Hathaway v. Sun Mutual Ins. Co., 8 Bosw. 33.