14. Builders' and Mechanics' Liens.—
These may arise upon a ship under the provision of local statutes and be entirely enforceable so long as they do not come into conflict with maritime liens and the exclusive jurisdiction of the admiralty. So, also, a lienor may assert his common-law right to retain possession of the ship until payment is made. This depends entirely on possession and cannot be enforced by judicial proceedings, although it may be recognized by the court when it arrests the vessel on other accounts.
15. Foreign Liens.—
Maritime liens often depend on the law of the place in which the obligation is incurred and also upon the law of the ship's flag. In other words, inquiry must frequently be made whether the local law gives a lien, whether the law under which the ship sails gives the master power to create the lien, and whether the country in which the suit is commenced has the legal machinery to enforce the lien. There is no doubt about our own admiralty courts having adequate jurisdiction and equipment to enforce any maritime lien which exists by the law of a foreign country. Its enforcement is a matter of comity and not of right when the parties are foreigners. Thus the maritime lien for collision will generally be enforced wherever the offending ship may be seized, irrespective of the place where the collision occurred. That lien exists by virtue of the general maritime law. On the other hand, there may be a closer question in regard to the lien for supplies. They may be furnished in a port of a country whose laws do not provide such a maritime lien but only give a remedy by attachment of the ship. The tendency of the weight of authority is to enforce such liens in the courts of this country whenever they exist by virtue of the general maritime law, even if they could not be enforced in the courts of the country where they arose. Possibly this gives a foreigner an advantage here over what he would have at home, but this is not really material.
16. Enforcement of Liens.—
This is discussed in Chapter XVII, Admiralty Remedies.
REFERENCES FOR GENERAL READING
Admiralty, Hughes, Chapter XVII.
Admiralty Liens of Material Men, IX American Law Review, 654.
Features of Admiralty Liens, XVI American Law Review, 193.