13. State Liens.—
For many years there was an open question in the maritime law of the United States as to the status of liens which arose in the home port of the vessel and numerous conflicting decisions were made by the courts. The effect was that in all cases of liens arising out of contract, like supplies and repairs, the question of upon whose credit the work was done and the supplies furnished became very important; where the transaction was in the home port, there was a presumption that it was on the personal credit of the owner and no lien was allowed; and the theory of home port became extended to include the entire State in which the owner resided. Thereupon all of the states interested in maritime affairs enacted statutes providing for liens upon vessels, both maritime and nonmaritime in their nature, and a sort of admiralty proceeding against the ship to enforce them; the procedure portions of these statutes were generally held void as interfering with the exclusive jurisdiction in rem of the Federal courts, but the liens which they created, if maritime in their nature, were usually enforced. By the act of Congress of June 23, 1910 (as amended and reënacted by the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, see Appendix), relating to liens on vessel for repairs, towage supplies or other necessaries, it was declared unnecessary to allege or prove that credit had been given the vessel and also provided that the Act shall supersede the provisions of all state statutes conferring liens on vessels so far as they purport to create rights in rem, that is to say, rights against the vessel herself. It is yet unsettled whether those of a nonmaritime class survive, as in the case of the lien for shipbuilding which, not being regarded by the admiralty as maritime, has been enforceable under the state statutes.