Maritime Lien

A maritime lien is one of the oldest features of English shipping law: a security interest that attaches directly to the ship itself (and, in some cases, to cargo or freight) rather than to its owner. Because the lien travels with the vessel, it survives a sale to a new, innocent owner — a claimant with a maritime lien can arrest and enforce against the ship even after it has changed hands, which is what distinguishes it from an ordinary statutory right in rem or a contractual charge.

The Merchant Shipping Act 1995 gives the force of law in the United Kingdom to the International Convention on Salvage 1989, which expressly preserves this category of claim: the Convention states that nothing in it 'shall affect the salvor's maritime lien under any international convention or national law.' A salvor's maritime lien is one of the clearest examples of the doctrine in practice, ranking alongside claims such as seamen's wages and collision damage as claims recognised at common law and by statute as attaching to the ship itself.

The lien is not, however, unlimited in practical effect. The same Convention provisions that preserve the salvor's lien also limit when it can be enforced: once 'satisfactory security for his claim, including interest and costs, has been duly tendered or provided', the salvor may not go on to enforce the lien by further arrest or sale of the vessel. This reflects the lien's underlying purpose — to guarantee payment of the underlying claim, not to give the claimant leverage beyond what is needed to secure it.