Seaborne Cargo Delay In Delivery Claims Research

The globalization of the world economy promotes the development of the international trade, and at the same time the parties involved demand more for the cargo transportation. They no longer only pay attention to the safety of the cargo, but also care about the correctness and prompt delivery of the cargo.The carriage of goods by sea is a main means for exchange of materials and commodities between countries around the world and there are more and more damage and losses arising from the delay in delivery in it. For a long time, however, no enough attention has been paid to the issue. Because of the defects in and the divergency between the relative conventions, laws and regulations, it is difficult for the merchants such as shipper or receiver to claim for the losses arising from delay in delivery.With the development of shipping and the variation of the position of strength between carriers and shippers, there emergences a powerful voice of perfecting and unifying the carrier's liability. Since the enactment of the Hamburg Rules which gives the earliest definitions to the delay in delivery, the legislation of many countries have pay more and more attention to the issue of delay in delivery, such as the Chinese Maritime Code. Unfortunately, because of the obvious divergency between the laws, the merchants cannot be well protected.The thesis begins with the basic concept of delay in delivery. Because of the internationalism of the carriage of good by sea, the author compares the related provisions among the international conventions, the legislation in some main shipping countries and the Chinese Maritime Code. With respect to the dispute in the concept, the author gives his own viewpoints on the settlement. Then, the thesis analyzes the causes of delay and carrier's liability arising from the breach of contract obligation and legal obligation for delay damage and losses. The following chapter is the most important part, which tells the merchants how to fix a correct range for claiming for the damage and losses including physical loss and economic loss. At last, it states the merchant's liability before and during the claim.The thesis compares the related provisions among the international conventions as well as the legislation in some main shipping countries, and cites some famous cases and judicial practice. What's more, the thesis also gives some the writer's own viewpoints and proposal on the settlement of some issues such as the principle of interpretation of the words "diligent", "cautious","reasonable "and "reasonably foreseeing of the losses" and etc.The writer hope that this thesis can call up more attention to the issue of delay in delivery and bring some help to the merchants when they claim for the losses arising from the delay in delivery.