Steps to be taken after a casualty. Upon receipt from the master or other sources that the vessel has been involved in a casualty the shipowners should notify their average adjusters.
In cases where general average and/or salvage are involved this is essential as, usually, only the specialists can envisage the probable development of the situation and the different steps to be taken. For example, they can advise whether the shipowners’ solicitors and/or P. & I. Association should be alerted in the early stages or the attendance of a cargo surveyor in the general interest is desirable. General average is “declared”’. Usually, the vessel is the largest interest and it is the shipowner who causes average to be “declared”.
Some countries, for example, in Europe, require a master’s note of protest to be made before GA can be declared.
