Is it a vessel, a ship or a boat, is it just a craft, or is it merely a contrivance?

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. Over the centuries, legislators have struggled to define the terms ‘ship’ and ‘vessel,’ and such definitions have been further beset by interpretational problems. The emergence of new commercial craft, including autonomous vessels and floating storage regasification units, as well as the development of innovative ‘contrivances’ such as amphibious cars, amphibious planes, submersible aircraft, autonomous underwater vehicles, and inflatable banana rafts, has plagued maritime law. This problem must be seen in the context of an admiralty law system which for a substantial period of time was in the midst of a struggle taking place between the Courts of Common Law and the Court of Admiralty. Furthermore, in those instances where statutory definitions are provided, different laws frequently provide definitions which are, in varying degrees, differently worded.