Maritime Lien

A maritime lien is a privileged charge that attaches to the ship (and sometimes freight) from the moment the claim arises, travels with the vessel through a change of ownership, and ranks ahead of a registered mortgage. The classic liens are salvage, seamen’s wages, master’s wages and disbursements, collision damage, and bottomry. It is enforced by an action in rem and is distinct from a statutory right of action in rem, which gives a power to arrest but does not bind a subsequent good-faith purchaser.