What is General average?
An extraordinary sacrifice or expenditure made intentionally at sea to save the ship and cargo from a common danger, together with the sharing of its loss among all the interested parties. For example, part of the cargo is thrown overboard in a storm to lighten the ship: the others were "saved" at the expense of the owner whose cargo was jettisoned, so the loss does not remain on that owner alone. The United Kingdom's Marine Insurance Act 1906 defines a general average loss as a loss caused by or directly consequential on a general average act; it includes both the property sacrificed and the expenditure incurred. Each participant (the shipowner, each cargo owner) pays a share in proportion to the value saved. This differs from particular average: in particular average the loss is borne only by the party that suffered it (or its insurer).