[General] When a ship shall have entered a port. v.s. When a ship has entered a port.

[cubezero3]

This is a sentence from the York Antwerp Rules 2016, maritime rules for general average.

When a ship shall have entered a port or place of refuge, or shall have returned to her port of place of loading ... .
Rule X, Paragraph a, Subparagraph i
https://comitemaritime.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/YAR-2016-English-with-Rule-XVII-correction.pdf

I'm completely at a loss as to how I should understand 'shall have entered a port'.

Does this refer to the past, as in 'could have entered a port', or the future, as in 'will have finished school'?

Is it simply a lawyer's way of saying 'When a ship has entered a port or place of refuge'? Or rather, it carries a meaning that the latter structure can't express.

I'd like to hear your opinions.

Richard

 

[J&K Tutoring]

Is it simply a lawyer's way of saying 'When a ship has entered a port or place of refuge'?​

Yes. The language of law is often confusing.
​