Definition
A term used primarily in maritime and insurance law to describe the full range of hazards incident to travel or commerce on navigable waters. "Risks of navigation" encompasses not only the immediate physical perils of the sea or waterway — storms, shoals, collision, grounding — but extends more broadly to include any danger or casualty arising from or connected with the navigation of a vessel. The term is understood to be wider in scope than the closely related phrase "perils of navigation," reaching contingencies that the narrower phrase might not cover.
Common Confusion
RISKS OF NAVIGATION vs. PERILS OF NAVIGATION: These phrases are not synonymous, though they are frequently treated as interchangeable in older contracts, insurance policies, and judicial opinions. "Perils of navigation" typically refers to immediate, specific physical dangers of the water — waves, weather, hidden obstacles, foundering. "Risks of navigation" carries broader import and may encompass a wider class of accidents, casualties, and contingencies connected with the enterprise of navigation itself, including some that are less directly tied to the physical conditions of the waterway. Researchers encountering either phrase in a historical document should not assume equivalence; the distinction may be outcome-determinative in a coverage or liability dispute.
Why It Matters in Research
The distinction between "risks of navigation" and "perils of navigation" was a live issue in nineteenth-century maritime insurance litigation, and the two phrases appear inconsistently across policy forms, shipping contracts, charter parties, and judicial opinions of that era. A researcher examining coverage disputes, carrier liability cases, or cargo loss claims from the 1800s should read the operative contract language carefully rather than relying on the label alone.
The term also surfaces in the law of common carriers on water. Carriers were traditionally excused from liability for losses caused by risks or perils of navigation — this was a recognized exception to the strict liability rules governing common carriers by land. The breadth of the exception therefore mattered enormously: a "risks of navigation" clause offered the carrier a wider shield than a "perils of navigation" clause would.
In modern practice, marine insurance policies typically use enumerated perils or all-risk language rather than relying on these general phrases, so the historical distinction has diminished practical significance. Researchers working in contemporary maritime or insurance law are more likely to encounter this term in tracing the historical development of a coverage doctrine than in active litigation.
The term does not appear in tax, environmental, or property law in its technical sense, though navigability determinations — which appear extensively in the environmental and property law contexts — are a distinct but related body of doctrine.
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's Law Dictionary records the key distinction concisely: "Risks of navigation" is "not the equivalent of 'perils of navigation,' but is of more comprehensive import than the latter." Black's supports this with a citation to a New York decision. This is the primary historical authority on the point, and the entry is notably spare — Black's treats the distinction as established rather than contested, suggesting that by the time of the entry's publication, courts had settled that the phrases were not coextensive.
Historical legal dictionaries generally give more attention to "perils of the sea" and "perils of navigation" as standard insurance and maritime terms than to "risks of navigation," which appears less frequently in formal treatise literature. Researchers should not assume that the absence of the phrase from a given dictionary means the concept was unrecognized; it may simply reflect the preference of a drafter or court for one formulation over another.
Jurisdictional Note
The distinction between these phrases was developed primarily in New York and federal maritime courts, reflecting New York's dominance as a commercial and insurance center in the nineteenth century. Federal admiralty jurisdiction governs most substantive maritime insurance and carrier liability questions, but state courts historically played a significant role in cargo and insurance disputes. Researchers should check both federal and state court records for the relevant period.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
Navigable Waters, Waters of the United States, and Jurisdiction — The Law Mind Environmental & Energy Law Encyclopedia
Coastal and Navigable Waters -- Public Trust Doctrine — The Law Mind Property Law Encyclopedia