SECTION 38.2-126. Marine  

A. "Marine insurance" means insurance against any kind of loss or damage to:

1. Vessels, craft, aircraft, vehicles of every kind, excluding vehicles operating under their own power or while in storage not incidental to transportation, as well as all goods, freights, cargoes, merchandise, effects, disbursements, profits, moneys, bullion, precious stones, securities, choses in action, evidences of debt, valuable papers, bottomry and respondentia interests and all other kinds of property and interests therein in respect to any risks or perils of navigation, transit or transportation, including war risks, on or under any seas or other waters, on land or in the air, or while being assembled, packed, crated, baled, compressed or similarly prepared for shipment or while awaiting shipment, or during any delays, storage, transshipment, or reshipment incident to shipment, including marine builders' risks and all personal property floater risks;

2. Persons or property in connection with or appertaining to marine, inland marine, transit or transportation insurance, including liability for loss of or damage to either arising out of or in connection with the construction, repair, operation, maintenance, or use of the subject matter of the insurance. This class of insurance shall not include life insurance, surety bonds or insurance against loss by reason of bodily injury to the person arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of automobiles;

3. Precious stones, jewels, jewelry, gold, silver and other precious metals used in business, trade, or otherwise and whether or not in transit. This class of insurance shall include jewelers' block insurance;

4. (i) Bridges, tunnels, and other instrumentalities of transportation and communication, excluding buildings, their furniture and furnishings, fixed contents and supplies held in storage, unless fire, tornado, sprinkler leakage, hail, explosion, earthquake, riot, and civil commotion are the only hazards to be covered; (ii) to piers, wharves, docks, and slips, excluding the risks of fire, tornado, sprinkler leakage, hail, explosion, earthquake, riot and civil commotion; and (iii) to other aids to navigation and transportation, including dry docks and marine railways, against all risks.

B. Marine insurance shall also include "marine protection and indemnity insurance," meaning insurance against loss, damage, or expense or against legal liability of the insured for loss, damage, or expense arising out of or incident to ownership, operation, chartering, maintenance, use, repair or construction of any vessel, craft or instrumentality in use in ocean or inland waterways, including liability of the insured for personal injury, illness or death or for loss of or damage to the property of another person.

C. Any policy of "marine insurance" as defined in this section providing protection against bodily injury, sickness or death of another person may include appropriate provisions obligating the insurer to pay medical, hospital, surgical, and funeral expenses arising out of the death or injury of any person, regardless of any legal liability of the insured.

D. Marine insurance shall also include "travel insurance" as defined in § 38.2-1887 .

1952, c. 317, § 38.1-22; 1986, c. 562; 2019, cc. 38.2-1887 , 38.2-1887 .