The same thing is true of other maritime dealings with the
vessel, whether by way of contract or otherwise. If salvage
service is rendered to a vessel, the admiralty court will hold
the vessel, although it has been doubted whether an action of
contract would lie, if the owners were sued at law. So the ship
is bound by the master's contract to carry cargo, just as in case
of collision, although she was under lease at the time. In such
cases, also, according to our Supreme Court, the master may bind
the vessel when he cannot bind the general owners. /4/ "By custom
the ship is bound to the merchandise, and the merchandise to the
ship." /5/ "By the maritime law every contract of the master
implies an hypothecation." /6/ It might be urged, no doubt, with
force, that, so far as the usual maritime contracts are
concerned, the dealing must be on the security of the ship or
merchandise in many cases, and therefore [33] that it is policy
to give this security in all cases; that the risk to which it
subjects ship-owners is calculable, and that they must take it
into account when they let their vessels. Again, in many cases,
when a party asserts a maritime lien by way of contract, he has
improved the condition of the thing upon which the lien is
claimed, and this has been recognized as a ground for such a lien
in some systems.
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