Master's Authority

The master’s authority is the power, implied by law, to bind the shipowner in matters of necessity for the prosecution of the voyage and the safety of ship and cargo: ordering salvage, declaring general average, taking the ship to a port of refuge, and contracting for essential supplies or repairs where communication with the owner is impractical. It is an agency of necessity, narrower now that satellite communication makes consultation routine, but still the legal basis for the master’s signature on bills of lading and salvage agreements.