LLOYD’S

        All over the world, this institution is well and widely known. It originated  from  informal  meetings  in the seventeenth century at the coffee  house  of Edward  Lloyd  and   in 1871 was incorporated  by act of  parliament.

It is now housed in a palatial building in Leaden hall St. London on the site of the old East India house. It is an association of marine insurance underwriters, brokers and ship owners. Primarily, Lloyd’s  was concerned  with marine  affairs – the insurance  of hulls ,  cargoes , freights  and ship  in course  of construction  but its  non- marine  business  is now  even  larger  than it’s marine business since every  kind of property  and every kind of risk, can be insured through the under writers at Lloyd’s  except life insurance. An under writer  is also  known  because , when the  slip containing particulars  of risk , writes  his initials  or his name  under  the particulars , thus indicating  that he accepts  the risk. A Lloyd’s policy  may  be underwritten  by scores not  to say  hundreds , of different  under  writers , each making  himself/ herself  responsible  for a stated  proportion  of the risk. In this way, very large risks are spread over a large number of insurers. Each underwriter  is required to  deposit  with  Lloyd’s  a large sum  of money  in approved  securities  before  he is  admitted  and this deposit is  held  applicable exclusively  to the commitments  of the  particular under writer. These individual deposits amount in the aggregate to many millions of pounds.

       
            A very important part of the work of Lloyd’s in relation with its marine business is the collection and dissemination of shipping news and in formations such as the departure and arrival of vessels in all parts of the world. This information is given daily in the newspaper entitled the Lloyd’s list. The names of overdue and missing vessels are posted. Note that a lot of things happen while on board the ship at sea, pirates and other dangerous weather conditions. The safe navigation of a ship depends upon qualifications and abilities of its Master. Lloyd’s  therefore  keeps  a Captain’s  register  containing  the  professional  record  of every  Master in the mercantile  marine. Another highly important activity of Lloyd’s is the classification of ships. Lloyd’s  register  of shipping is  a separate  society  which among  other  activities  publishes  annually  Lloyd’s  register  book , containing  the names  and detailed  information concerning  all  sea going  vessels both local and foreign. Full particulars in English and French are given of each ship.

SHIP MEASUREMENT-

            There are four ways by which the tonnage of a ship is measured, via gross tonnage, net tonnage, displacement tonnage, dead weight tonnage or carrying capacity.  Gross- is the sum in cubic feet of all the enclosed spaces in a vessel divided by 100. The answer is Tons. Net/ Net register tonnage-is the gross tonnage  less deductions  for the spaces  occupied  by the crew , engine  room , bunkers  and other  spaces unoccupied  by passengers  or  cargo. Ship’s dues are paid on this tonnage.
            Displacement tonnage- of the sea water displaced by a vessel when fully loaded that is when loaded as deep as the minimum freeboard regulations allow.  Dead-weight tonnage- is of cargo that a vessel is capable of carrying when loaded to its water –line.