On The Limitation Of Liability Of Port Operators

As the rapid development of international maritime cargo transportation,port operators,which have been an important hub connecting sea to land transportation,have achieved considerable development and progress.Correspondingly,disputes involving port operations arising from the operations of port operators are increasing day by day.However,China’s current laws and regulations lack direct regulations for port operators.The academic circles have not formed a unified understanding of the legal status of port operators.In judicial practice,the understanding of the legal status of port operators has not formed an unified understanding,which leads to inconsistent determination of whether port operators enjoy the limitation of liability or not.Whether the port operator enjoys the limitation of liability under China’s existing legal system is still quite uncertain.From the perspective of the development trends of international conventions and foreign laws,although at the international level,the United Nations Convention on Compensation for Port Operators of International Trade and Transportation Stations has not yet came into force,but by analyzing the development of the subject of the liability limitation system in the current international conventions,we can clearly find that from the “Hague Rules" to "Visby Rules" to "Rotterdam Rules",the carrier’s range of responsibilities has been continuously expanding,and the international community has tended to limit the liability of port operators.In my opinion,it is very necessary to establish a port operator liability limitation system in China.This article analyzes the international legislative model of the port operator ’s liability limitation system,combines with the actual situation in China ’s current legal system,compares the provisions on the liability limitation system in the “Air Transport Law” and the “Railway Law”,and combines port operators current status in the international transportation law,explores how to construct a system for limiting the liability of port operators in China.This article believes that it is more appropriate to identify China’s port operators as carriers’ assistants.China should refer to the relevant provisions of the "Maritime Law" of Taiwan in China,expand the statutory "Himalaya Clause",and adopt the method of enumeration so that the port operator,as a carrier’s performance assistant,has the right to invoke the limitation of liability.