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BOTTOMRY Definition & Legal Meaning

Definition & Citations:

In maritime law. A contract in the nature of a mortgage, by which the owner of a ship borrows money for the use, equipment or repair of the vessel, and for a definite term, and pledges the ship (or the keel or bottom of the ship, pars pro toto) as a security for its repayment, with maritime or extraordinary interest on account of the marine risks to be borne by the lender; it being stipulated that if the ship be lost in the course of the specified voyage, or during th’e limited time, by any of the perils enumerated in the contract, the lender shall also lose his money. The Draco, 2 Sumn. 157, Fed. Cas. No. 4,057; White v. Cole, 24 Wend. (N. Y.) 126; Carrington v. The Pratt, 18 How. 03, 15 L. Ed. 267; The Dora (D. C.) 34 Fed. 343; Jennings v. Insurance Co., 4 Bin. (Pa.) 244, 5 Am. Dec. 404; Braynard v. Hoppock, 7 Bosw. (N. Y.) 157. Bottomry is a contract by which a ship or its freightage is hypothecated as security for a loan, which is to be repaid only in case the ship survives a particular risk, voyage, or period. Civ. Code Cal.

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