ABSTRACT
A loss may be total or partial. While the only total loss acknowledged in the non-marine context is an actual total loss, in marine insurance a total loss may be an actual total loss (ATL) or a constructive total loss (CTL). The doctrine of CTL in marine insurance law has meant that the test for an ATL has been applied with the utmost rigour: as an assured has always had the option of claiming for a CTL. When goods are insured free from average and when part of the goods insured is lost the question may arise as to whether that is a total loss of part of the cargo or whether that is a partial loss of the cargo insured. Total loss occurs when the subject matter insured is destroyed or annihilated or when it ceases to be a thing of the kind insured. Irretrievable deprivation may be questioned in some cases where a vessel is captured.
