Domain Glossary

Shared vocabulary for the Meridian team and any external reader who needs to understand the marine insurance and casualty response space the product operates in. Terms are grouped by function rather than alphabetised so the reader can pick up a whole subsystem in one read.

Every entry is deliberately short. Where a term is regulated by a specific instrument, that instrument is named so it can be looked up in the corpus.

Regulatory framework

IMO — International Maritime Organization. UN agency that sets binding conventions (SOLAS, MARPOL, STCW) and non-binding codes and guidelines for international shipping.

SOLAS — International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea. The core safety convention. Amended frequently through Maritime Safety Committee resolutions.

SOLAS Chapter V, Regulations 31 and 32 — Danger messages. As amended by Resolution MSC.550(108) and effective 1 January 2026, requires the master of any ship involved in the loss of one or more containers to report the incident to ships in the vicinity, the nearest coastal state, and the flag state. The flag state reports to the IMO through GISIS.

MARPOL — International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships. Governs oil, chemical, packaged goods, sewage, garbage, and air pollution from ships. Divided into six annexes.

ISM Code — International Safety Management Code. Mandatory since 1998 under SOLAS Chapter IX. Requires every operator to run a documented Safety Management System.

SMS — Safety Management System. The documented set of procedures a shipowner or manager operates under the ISM Code, including emergency response procedures.

STCW — International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers. Sets minimum training and certification standards.

CSC — International Convention for Safe Containers. Governs construction, testing, and periodic inspection of freight containers. Each container carries a CSC safety approval plate.

LLMC — Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims (1976, amended 1996). Allows shipowners to cap their aggregate liability for a single incident based on ship tonnage.

Nairobi WRC — Nairobi International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks 2007. Places liability for wreck removal on the registered owner and requires compulsory insurance.

IACS — International Association of Classification Societies. Trade association of the major class societies (ABS, BV, ClassNK, DNV, KR, LR, RINA and others).

GISIS — Global Integrated Shipping Information System. The IMO’s central database, receives mandatory container loss reports from flag states.

VDR — Voyage Data Recorder. Ship’s equivalent of a black box. Preserved as evidence after any serious casualty.

Ship management roles

Shipowner — Legal owner of the ship, registered in the flag state’s registry. In practice may be a single-ship company for tax and liability reasons.

Manager — Party contracted by the owner to run the ship day to day. May cover technical management, crewing, or full commercial management. Often referred to as “the operator” when acting under the ISM Code.

Master — The captain. Ultimate on-board authority. Personally obligated by SOLAS and the ISM Code to report casualties without delay.

DPA — Designated Person Ashore. Mandatory role under the ISM Code. Named individual on shore who has direct access to the highest level of management and serves as the 24/7 contact between the ship and the shore-based emergency response.

Charterer — Party that hires the ship or its cargo capacity under a charter party. Three main forms: bareboat charter (charterer takes possession and operates the ship), time charter (charterer directs the ship’s employment for a period), voyage charter (charterer books cargo capacity for one voyage).

Flag state — Country whose registry the ship carries. Responsible for enforcing IMO conventions on ships flying its flag and for conducting safety investigations.

Coastal state — Country in whose territorial waters or exclusive economic zone the casualty occurs or has effects.

Port state — Country of a port the ship calls at. Exercises port state control inspections.

Insurance market structures

P&I Club — Protection and Indemnity Club. Mutual, non-profit association of shipowners that provides third-party liability cover on a pooled basis. Members contribute calls; catastrophic losses are shared across the pool and reinsured through the International Group.

IG P&I — International Group of P&I Clubs. Association of the thirteen largest clubs, together covering around 90% of the world’s ocean-going tonnage. Runs a pooling and reinsurance programme.

H&M — Hull and Machinery insurance. First-party cover on the physical ship (hull, machinery, equipment). Purchased separately from P&I.

Cargo insurance — First-party cover on the goods. Held by the cargo owner or its consignee, not by the shipowner.

Cefor — Nordic Association of Marine Insurers. Trade body of Nordic marine underwriters and the custodian of the Nordic Marine Insurance Plan.

Lloyd’s — Historic London insurance market. Not a single insurer but a market of syndicates writing marine and other risks.

Correspondent — Local agent of a P&I club in a given port or country. First point of contact after a casualty, mobilises surveyors and lawyers on the club’s behalf.

Underwriter — In practice used to mean the insurer, whether writing hull, cargo, or liability risk.

Insurance contracts

MIA 1906 — Marine Insurance Act 1906 (UK). The foundational statute of English-law marine insurance. Codified duty of utmost good faith, insurable interest, warranties, and remedies.

NMIP — Nordic Marine Insurance Plan. The primary hull and interests wording for Nordic-domiciled shipowners. Updated periodically; the current version is the 2013 plan, version 2023.

Club Rules — Each P&I club publishes its own contractual rules that govern the cover it provides. Rules define insured risks, exclusions, and the class of entry (owned, chartered, etc.).

Uberrimae fidei — Utmost good faith. Long-standing common-law principle requiring the insured to disclose all material facts to the insurer. Modified by the Insurance Act 2015 in England.

Cargo carriage regimes

Bill of Lading — The key transport document. Serves as receipt for goods, evidence of the contract of carriage, and document of title.

Hague-Visby Rules — International convention (Hague Rules 1924 as amended by the Visby Protocols 1968 and 1979) governing the carrier’s liability for goods carried under a bill of lading. Most widely used regime globally.

Package or kilo limitation — Under Hague-Visby, carrier’s liability is capped at the higher of 666.67 SDR per package or unit, or 2 SDR per kilogram of gross weight.

Time bar — Under Hague-Visby, cargo claims are barred one year after delivery or when delivery should have occurred. This deadline drives most of the urgency in cargo claims work.

Hamburg Rules — Alternative cargo regime adopted by fewer states. Two-year time bar and stricter carrier liability. Rarely encountered on Meridian’s target routes.

Rotterdam Rules — Modernised regime signed in 2009 but not yet in force. Would extend liability to door-to-door multimodal carriage.

SDR — Special Drawing Rights. IMF’s synthetic currency unit, used across maritime conventions to express monetary limits. Value fluctuates against national currencies.

General Average

General Average (GA) — Ancient maritime principle that if a voluntary sacrifice or extraordinary expenditure is incurred for the common safety of ship, cargo, and freight, the loss is shared proportionately among all parties whose property was saved.

YAR — York-Antwerp Rules. The contractual codification of General Average, referenced in charter parties and bills of lading. Current version is YAR 2016; earlier versions (1974, 1994, 2004) may still apply depending on the contract.

Rule Paramount — Opening rule of YAR: no sacrifice or expenditure is allowed as General Average unless it was reasonably made or incurred.

Lettered Rules (A to G) — General principles: what qualifies as GA, security for contribution, interest, adjustment currency.

Numbered Rules (I to XXIII) — Specific applications: jettison of cargo, fire extinguishing, port of refuge expenses, wages and maintenance of crew, salvage.

Sacrifice — Voluntary damage or loss deliberately incurred to save the common adventure. Classic examples: jettisoning cargo to refloat a grounded ship, water damage to cargo from firefighting.

Expenditure — Extraordinary spending for the common safety. Classic examples: salvage award, tug hire to reach port of refuge, temporary repairs.

Contribution — Each saved party’s share of the total General Average loss, calculated pro rata on the value of property at risk.

Average Adjuster — Independent specialist appointed by the shipowner to prepare the General Average adjustment. Typically a member of a national association (in the UK: the Association of Average Adjusters).

GA Bond (Average Bond) — Undertaking signed by cargo interests before their cargo is released, agreeing to pay whatever contribution is later assessed.

GA Guarantee — Financial guarantee from the cargo underwriter that backs the GA Bond. Together with the bond, this is standard security.

GA Deposit — Cash security paid by cargo interests when a guarantee is unavailable. Refunded once the adjustment is complete.

Non-separation Agreement — Contractual extension of GA covering costs incurred after cargo is separated from the ship at a port of refuge.

Bigham Clause — Provision commonly included in bonds that caps a cargo receiver’s contribution at the value of its cargo.

Adjustment Statement — The final document produced by the Average Adjuster, showing each party’s contribution and the settlement due.

Salvage

Salvage — Services rendered voluntarily to save property from peril at sea. Rewarded by a salvage award proportionate to the value saved and the skill and risk involved.

Salvor — Party rendering salvage services. Professional salvors operate under standard contracts.

LOF — Lloyd’s Open Form. Standard no-cure-no-pay salvage contract. Master can sign it under time pressure without pre-negotiating price; the amount is set later by arbitration.

SCOPIC — Special Compensation P&I Club clause. Optional clause invoked with LOF that guarantees the salvor a minimum tariff-based payment even if the salvage fails, to incentivise environmental protection efforts.

No-cure-no-pay — Base principle of salvage law: no successful result, no reward. SCOPIC modifies this for environmental cases.

Casualty and claims process

Casualty — General term for a serious marine incident. Investigated by the flag state and reported to the IMO under Casualty Investigation Code procedures.

Note of Protest / Sea Protest — Formal declaration signed by the master before a notary at the port of arrival, recording that the vessel encountered heavy weather or other perils. Preserves the shipowner’s position against future cargo claims.

Statement of Facts — Chronological log kept by the port agent recording operations in port. Referenced in demurrage and claims disputes.

Master’s Report — Narrative account of the casualty written by the master. Authoritative source for the incident.

LOU — Letter of Undertaking. Written commitment from a P&I club to pay a judgment or settlement in return for the release of an arrested ship or cargo. Cash-free alternative to a bank guarantee.

Subrogation — After an insurer pays its insured, it steps into the insured’s rights and can pursue recovery from the party at fault.

Deviation — Voluntary departure from the contractual voyage route. Under Hague-Visby, deviation to save life or property is excused; unjustified deviation may strip the carrier of defences and limitations.

Port of Refuge — Port not on the intended route that the ship enters because of a casualty or threatened casualty. Port of refuge expenses are classic GA expenditure.

Acronyms cheat sheet

Quick lookup for the acronyms above:

CSC, DPA, GA, GISIS, H&M, IACS, IG P&I, IMO, ISM, LLMC, LOF, LOU, MIA, NMIP, P&I, SCOPIC, SDR, SMS, SOLAS, STCW, VDR, WRC, YAR