Legal Definitions - moorage

Moorage refers to two distinct but related concepts concerning vessels:

• The act of securing a boat, ship, or other watercraft to a fixed object, such as a dock, pier, wharf, or buoy, to prevent it from drifting away.

• The fee or charge assessed for the privilege of securing a vessel at a particular location, often for a specific duration.

Here are some examples illustrating the concept of moorage:

• Imagine a family taking their sailboat out for a weekend trip. When they arrive at their destination harbor, they locate an available slip at the local marina. The moorage involves the process of carefully maneuvering their boat into the slip and tying it securely to the dock cleats. They will also pay a daily moorage fee to the marina for the use of that slip overnight.

  This example illustrates both aspects: the physical act of securing the sailboat to the dock and the financial charge paid for the right to keep it there.

• A large commercial fishing trawler returns to port after several weeks at sea. It needs to unload its catch and resupply. The captain directs the crew to tie the trawler alongside a designated commercial pier. This act of securing the vessel is its moorage. The port authority will then bill the fishing company a substantial moorage charge, calculated based on the trawler's size and the duration it occupies the pier.

  Here, the term describes the action of docking a large working vessel and the associated cost for using the port's facilities for an extended period.

• During a severe storm, a small pleasure craft owner quickly seeks refuge in a protected cove. They drop anchor and secure their boat to a sturdy mooring buoy provided by a private yacht club. This temporary attachment to the buoy is a form of moorage. While they might not be charged a direct fee for this emergency use, if they were to regularly use the yacht club's buoy, they would typically pay an annual moorage fee for that privilege.

  This scenario highlights the act of securing a vessel, even to a buoy rather than a dock, and introduces the idea of a recurring fee for a designated mooring spot.