Per Sir Bernard Rix:[1] Shipping is performed on the basis that time is money and that a ship is a floating and travelling warehouse for which cargo must pay either in the form of agreed freight or hire, or by way of damages for any breach of contract.

The main element in shipping is - SHIP; used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water. [2] Ship has name, and her [3] name is changeable at any time as desired by her owner. In Mount Isa Mines Ltd v The Ship "Thor Commander",[4] Justice Rares began with '[The] mythological Norse god, Thor, wielded a hammer and (like his Greek and Roman counterparts, Zeus and Jupiter) and was associated with, among other phenomena, thunder, lightning and storms.' Justice Rares continued basis the fact of the case: 'Fortunately, it is not necessary to decide whether Thor was at work at about 15:20 local time (LT) on 11 January 2015 when the main engine of the Thor Commander suffered a major [breakdown] ...'

[1] Metall Market OOO v Vitorio Shipping Co Ltd (The "Lehman Timber") [2013] 2 Lloyd's Law Reports 541, 573 at [127].

[2] Part of the definition of vessel unders COLREG, Rule 3 (a).

[3] Ship is usually referred to as female. Probably due to her being mostly surrounded by the males who are on board - her.

[4] [2019] 1 Lloyd's Law Reports 167.

[5] Ibid at p. 171, [1].