York-Antwerp Rules (York-Antwerp-Regeln)

Concept

The York-Antwerp Rules are the internationally recognized, privately agreed set of rules for the uniform calculation and apportionment of general average losses in maritime shipping. They define which losses, damages, and expenditures are recognized as general average and the procedure by which these are apportioned proportionally among ship, cargo, and freight interests.

Origin and Development

The rules originate from international conferences held in York (1864) and Antwerp (1877), which sought to establish a uniform practice in place of the previously highly inconsistent treatment of general average across different jurisdictions. Since then, the York-Antwerp Rules have been revised several times by the Comité Maritime International (CMI), most notably in the 1994, 2004, and 2016 versions, with each revision addressing changes in trading practice and disputed issues arising from the preceding rules.

Contractual Application and Relevance for Transport Insurance

The York-Antwerp Rules have no direct statutory force but instead become part of the contract through express incorporation into the bill of lading or charterparty, which is almost universally the case in international maritime shipping practice. For hull insurers of the vessel and cargo insurers of the goods, they therefore form the binding calculation basis on which a general average adjustment prepared by an average adjuster determines the proportional apportionment of costs in a general average event.