Study On Limitation Of Liability For Maritime Claims Of Ship Charterers

With the diversified development of shipping industry, the scope of the responsible parties of limitation of liability for maritime claims expands gradually. Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims of 1976, which is the most influential convention in this area, stipulated that the ship charterers shall be brought into the scope of shipowners, and furnished the charterer the right of limitation. However, the convention does not explicitly define the scope of charterers and limited liability claims. This paper intends to explore the legal issues related to the ship charterers under the limitation of liability for maritime claims. Based on the ground of legal theory, the relevant provisions of the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims of 1976 and Maritime Code of the People's Republic of China, combined with shipping and judicial practices, by using the method of history analysis, case studies, and comparative study of legislation, this paper attempts to define the meanings of the responsible ship charterers, identify the scope of limited claims about ship charterers, and finally propose recommendations for revision of the Maritime Code of the People's Republic of China.The main content of the paper is divided into four chapters:by studying the relevant international conventions and domestic legislation, and analyzing the leading cases, Chapter 1 raises up two legal issues which shall be solved in the relevant practice and which are the main focuses of this paper; through the discussion of the basic theories about limitation of liability for maritime claims system, such as the origin and development, the meaning of establishment of the theory, and the nature of it, Chapter 2 sets clear criteria to judge who shall be the responsible parties under limitation of liability for maritime claims. Then combined the criteria with the nature and the characteristics of various types of charterers, judgments are made separately; Chapter 3 analyzes the scope of limited claims by dividing the situation in which the charterers are responsible into three broad categories; Chapter 4 analyzes relevant provisions of the existing legislation in China, and makes some legislative proposals.Through this research, the author draws the following conclusions:(a) Nowadays, theoretical basis for responsible parties to limit liability is oriented from their operation or interests of the vessels; (b) The ship charterer who can enjoy the limitation of liability for maritime claims should include the demise charterer, time charterer, voyage charterer and the slot charterer; (c) Combined with Article 207 of Maritime Code of China and the characteristics of various responsible parties, we can determine whether a responsible party can limit his liability or not for some kind of maritime claim. Therefore Article 207 of Maritime Code of China should be maintained.