I Introduction

“We so rarely have to consider the law of general average that it is as well to remind ourselves of it”, wrote Lord Denning MR.2 At root, general average (GA) involves a system of risk transfer which pre-dates marine insurance and exists separately from it, but is nevertheless closely linked with it, since usual marine policies provide cover against general average losses. The founding principle has been enshrined in successive versions of the York-Antwerp Rules in Rule A: