derelict

The Sailor's Word-Book

[Lat. derelictus, abandoned].


Anything abandoned at sea. A ship is derelict either by consent or by compulsion, stress of weather, &c., and yet, to save the owner's rights, if any cat, dog, or other domestic animal be found on board alive, it is not forfeited. The owner may yet recover, on payment of salvage, within a year and a day otherwise the whole may be awarded. (See salvage.)

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