I became a fan of Kaj Pineus when I was introduced to his Guide to Limitation of Shipowners’ Liability in Collision Cases as applied in various jurisdictions. A copy of that handy booklet has been in my top left-hand drawer for many years. Dr Pineus was able to reduce a great deal of information into a small space clearly set out for the benefit of many professionals, not only lawyers. It was, therefore, with great pleasure that I undertook to read Ship’s Value.

A dictionary definition of “value” is “worth or utility … what is or passes as the equivalent of something …”. At first glance this would appear to be sufficient for the purposes of defining the “value” of a ship. However, Dr Pineus soon points out to the reader that a ship’s value can vary depending upon the identity of the person or persons attempting to value the ship at any particular time. A simple example would be the market value, the scrap value and the insured value. We all have cases where, when arguing about a salved ship’s value, parties concerned differ enormously on their opinion of the value of the ship as at termination of the salvage services. In such a case, it is in the interests of a salvor to obtain as high a salved ship value as possible, whereas the respondent shipowner is eager to prove as low a value as he can (and in some cases this may be the scrap value). In this example one can see that “ship value” means, in terms of money’s worth, two entirely different figures to the protagonists. This does not take into account the underwriter, who has on his books a figure which looks nothing like the respondent shipowner’s nor the salvor’s.

Dr Pineus expresses and explains the different concepts of value and in the first six chapters of his book sets out the various issues concerned with, for example, “market value” or “dividend value” in various jurisdictions. The reader will enjoy a far clearer explanation than I have attempted above. He has included in his work comparison between, for example, the Scandinavian and the English concepts. Having attempted to put the reader in the position of assessing value from different viewpoints, the author then turns to particular problems experienced in evaluating ship’s value for credit purposes, insurance and later those involved when dealing with collision or salvage cases. He then passes on to general average and finally limitation of liability, which is where I personally first joined him.

I found the comparisons between the various national approaches to the problems to be both interesting and enlightening, particularly because the “English” approach seems to differ from many of our colleagues. I was brought up with a simple maxim: “If it is Admiralty, it is different”, which means that different rules may apply in the Admiralty (now Admiralty and Commercial) Court from those in the rest of the High Court. It seems a similar rule may