Restraint of princes

Restraint of princes is an excepted peril, listed in older bills of lading and marine policies, covering loss or detention of ship or cargo caused by the act of a sovereign state: an embargo, a blockade, a seizure, a quarantine order, or a wartime detention. It excuses the carrier where performance is prevented by governmental compulsion rather than by its own fault. The phrase, dating to the Marine Insurance Act 1906 and earlier charter forms, survives in the exceptions clauses of standard charter parties and overlaps with modern force majeure and war-risks wording.