DOCKAGE

5 definitions found across Law Mind sources

DOCKAGEAuthored
The Law Mind • 826 words
Definition
A fee charged for the use of a dock — that is, the enclosed or partly enclosed water area where a vessel is moored for loading, unloading, repair, or storage. Dockage is the price of occupying that space, assessed by dock owners or port authorities against vessel operators. In the case of dry-dock use (a facility that can be drained to expose a vessel's hull for inspection or repair), courts have treated dockage as analogous to rent, giving it the character of a landlord-tenant obligation rather than a purely maritime service charge. This distinction has practical consequences for how the obligation is classified and enforced — whether by maritime lien, common-law contract, or real property principles.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): Either dock space collectively, or a charge levied for docking. Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): A charge for the use of a dock. The common meaning and the legal meaning are largely aligned, but the legal context adds a layer the common definition elides: dockage is not merely a fee in the abstract but an obligation that can give rise to maritime lien rights, and in the dry-dock context carries the specific legal character of rent. A researcher who treats dockage as simply a synonym for any port-related charge may miss these enforcement and classification consequences.
Common Confusion
Dockage and wharfage are frequently used interchangeably in non-legal writing, but they are legally distinct. Wharfage is the charge for use of a wharf — a structure alongside which a vessel ties up to load or unload cargo. Dockage is the charge for use of the dock space itself, the water area or enclosed basin. Both historical sources flag the distinction by cross-referencing wharfage as a related but separate concept. In practice, port tariff schedules often list both charges separately, and the applicable maritime lien rules may differ.
Why It Matters in Research
Researchers working in admiralty and maritime collections should treat dockage as a term with dual legal character depending on context. When dockage arises from a wet berth or basin, it is typically analyzed as a maritime service charge, potentially supporting a maritime lien under admiralty jurisdiction. When it arises from dry-dock use, courts have historically assimilated it to rent — which implicates different priority rules and may affect whether the claim is pursued in admiralty or at common law. The single admiralty case cited by both Black's and Bouvier's (1 Newb. Adm. 69) anchors the dry-dock-as-rent characterization; researchers encountering that holding should be aware it is a mid-nineteenth century federal admiralty ruling and that subsequent statutory development of maritime lien law (particularly the Federal Maritime Lien Act and its successors) may have altered the practical landscape without displacing the underlying analogy. Port tariff documents, charter parties, and dock leases from historical collections may use dockage interchangeably with berth charge or demurrage; careful attention to which facility and which obligation is at issue is essential before categorizing the claim. Demurrage, in particular, has its own distinct meaning (delay damages in cargo or vessel contracts) and should not be conflated with dockage even when both appear in the same document. Jurisdictional variation matters here: admiralty jurisdiction is federal in the United States, so disputes over dockage as a maritime lien will generally be resolved under federal law, but when dockage is characterized as rent (as in the dry-dock context), state landlord-tenant or property law principles may enter the analysis.
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's and Bouvier's are in full agreement on dockage: both define it as the sum charged for use of a dock, both cite the same admiralty precedent for the dry-dock-as-rent characterization, and Bouvier's explicitly cross-references wharfage as the related concept. Neither source elaborates on the lien implications or on how dockage fits within the broader statutory maritime lien framework — a gap reflecting the vintage of both works. Modern maritime law treatises and port tariff regulations have substantially developed the enforcement side of dockage claims in ways neither dictionary captures. The Black's entry is notable for immediately pivoting to DOCKET in the same textual block, a common artifact of alphabetical compression in early legal dictionaries. Researchers using facsimile or digitized versions of Black's should be alert to this layout, as the DOCKAGE entry is brief and the transition to the next headword is abrupt.
Jurisdictional Note
In the United States, dockage claims with a maritime nexus fall within federal admiralty jurisdiction, and whether dockage supports a maritime lien is governed by federal maritime lien statutes. The dry-dock-as-rent characterization may pull certain disputes toward state law. Researchers working with non-U.S. sources should note that Commonwealth jurisdictions may use the term differently in port authority regulations and admiralty rules.
Related Terms
Wharfage — Demurrage — Maritime lien — Berth — Dry dock — Port charges — Admiralty jurisdiction — Pilotage — Towage — Charter party
DOCKAGEmain
Black's Law Dictionary • 1891
The sum charged for the use of a dock. In the case of a dry-dock, it has been held in the nature of rent. 1 Newb. Adm. 69. DOCKET, v. To abstract and enter in a book. 3 Bl. Comm. 397, 398. To make a brief entry of any proceeding in a court of justice in the docket. DOCKET, n. A minute, abstract, or brief entry; or the book containing such en- tries. A small piece of paper or parchment having the effect of a larger. Blount. In practice. A formal record, entered in brief, of the proceedings in a court of jus- tice. A book containing an entry in brief of all the important acts done in court in the con- duct of each case, from its inception to its conclusion. Pub. St. Mass. 1882, p. 1290.
DOCKAGEmain
Bouvier's Law Dictionary • 1928
The sum charged for the use of a dock. In the case of a dry dock, it has been held in the nature of rent. 1 Newb. 69. See WHARFAGE. her use either during the pendency of a suit, -in which case it is called alimony pendente lite, or after its termination, called perma- nent alimony. As will be seen from the foregoing definition, alimony, especially permanent alimony, pertains rather to a separation from bed and board than to a divorce from the bond of matrimony. In- deed, it is generally allowed in the latter case only in pursuance of statutory provi- sions. See ALIMONY. It is provided by strument, in use in England, given by the statute in several of our states that, in case of divorce, the court may order the husband to restore to the wife, when she is the inno- cent party, and sometimes even when she is not, a part or the whole of the property which he received by the marriage. In some cases, also, the court is authorized to divide the property between the parties, this being a substitute for the allowance of ali- mony. For further particulars, recourse must be had to the statutes in question. The custody of children. In this country, the tribunal hearing a divorce cause is gen- erally authorized by statute to direct, dur- ing its pendency and afterwards, with which of the parties, or with what other person, the children shall remain, and to make provision out of the husband's estate for their maintenance. There are few posi- tive rules upon the subject, the matter being left to the discretion of the court, to be exercised according to the circumstances of each case. The general principle is to consult the welfare of the child, rather than any supposed rights of the parents, and as between the parents to prefer the innocent to the guilty. In the absence of a control- ling necessity or very strong propriety, aris- ing from the circumstances of the case, the father's claim is to be preferred; see Reeve, Dom. Rel. 453; Lloyd, Div. 241; 40 N. Η. 272; 16 Pick. 203; 24 Barb. 521; 27 id. 9; 2 Q. B. D. 75; 2 U. C. Q. B. 370; 55 Ala. 428; 56 Miss. 418; 12 R. I. 462; [1891] Prob. 124; and 2 Bish. Mar. & Div. § 1185, where the subject is fully treated; the general rule, however, being that the welfare of the child will be consulted rather than the rights of either parent; 12 R. I. 462; 68 ΠΙ. 17; 32 Ν. J. Eq. 738; 44 Ala. 670. If the child is of an age to require especially a mother's care, her right of custody is pre- ferred; id.; 55 id. 428; 14 Cal. 512; but it is for the trial court to say upon all the evi- dence whether she is more worthy of their custody than the father; 92 Cal. 653. In some cases a child will be placed in the custody of a third person; 47 How. Pr. 172; 2 Russ. 1; 21 Tex. 67; 80 Ind. 547;39 Wis. 167. See CUSTODY. A bigamous marriage being void ab initio, the second wife cannot maintain an action for judicial separation; 5 Misc. Rep. 193. By the civil law, the child of parents di- vorced is to be brought up by the innocent party at the expense of the guilty party. Ridley's View, pt. 1, c. 8. § 9, citing 8th See FOREIGN DIVORCE. Collation.
DOCKAGEn.
Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913
A charge for the use of a dock.
dockagenoun
Wiktionary (English) • 2026
Wiktionary contributorsCC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.
Docks collectively; dock space. | A charge levied for docking.

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