Deck Cargo Legal Issues Studied

As the cargo stowed on deck, the deck cargo has quite different legal implications in many aspects when compared with the cargo under deck. All the current international conventions have special provisions on the deck cargo. However, along with the fast development of the ship construction and international transportation, some traditional laws of deck cargo were affected.Starting from Hague Rules, Visby Rules, Hamburg Rules, Budapest Convention on the Contract for the Carriage of Goods in Inland Navigation, Rotterdam Rules and the Chinese domestic law, the thesis compared and analyzed the differences between the international conventions and the Chinese domestic laws in terms of the deck cargo. By referring to the relevant domestic and foreign cases, the thesis illustrated the major legal issues both in theory and in practice as well as putting forward some suggestions on the perfection of China's Maritime Law in terms of the deck cargo. The thesis focused on the definition of the deck cargo, the legal conditions for permitting the deck stowage and the carrier's liability when it carries the cargo on deck by complying with or violating the legal conditions. The thesis included discussions on the perfection of China's Maritime Law in terms of the deck cargo, the legal effect of the liberty to stowage on deck clause under Chinese law and the transfer of risks involved by the deck cargo.Chapter 1 elaborated on the definition of the deck cargo by referring to the cases and introduced the characteristics of the deck cargo and streamlined the deck cargo provisions in the relevant international conventions and domestic laws. Chapter 2 summarized the conditions for permitting the deck stowage, and analyzed all the conditions in a detailed manner. Chapter 3 analyzed the legal effects of the carrier's statement of whether to stow on deck on the Bill of Lading or not, and put forward some suggestions on the perfection of the provisions on deck cargo in China's Maritime Law. In addition, Chapter 3 emphasized on the legal effect of carrying the cargo on deck by complying with or violating the legal conditions. As Hague Rules and Visby Rules exclude the cargo which is stated being carried on deck in the contract of carriage and is so carried, the thesis also specifically discussed the deck stowage under the two conventions. Chapter 4 focused on the legal effects of the liberty to stowage on deck clause under international conventions and the Chinese domestic law. Chapter 5 discussed the transfer of risks of deck cargo, the transportation insurance issues by referring to both the Ocean Marine Cargo Clauses and Institute Cargo Clause (I.C.C.2009) as well as p&i cover by referring to both the Insurance Clause of China Shipowners Mutual Assurance Association and the Rules of UK P&I Club.