Research On Force Majeure Legal Issues In Carriage Of Goods By Sea

In recent years,due to the impact of the epidemic,force majeure has become a hot topic in the field of maritime law.With the deepening of the discussion,it can be seen that the research on force majeure in China’s legal community is not systematic and in-depth enough,and the backwardness of theoretical research can easily lead to various problems in practical trials,which is not conducive to the steady development of China’s shipping industry.Therefore,it is necessary to sort out the unclear provisions on force majeure during the transportation of goods by sea.This article starts from several important aspects such as the determination of force majeure involved in the transportation of goods by sea,the obligation to mitigate losses and notify under force majeure,and the transportation losses under force majeure.Combined with relevant precedents,it deeply elaborates on some legal issues related to force majeure in China’s maritime transportation of goods.Firstly,it introduces the definition and subject and object of force majeure in maritime cargo transportation,and points out the specific identification of "unforeseeable","unavoidable and insurmountable" and "objective circumstances" in maritime judicial adjudication.In the field of maritime transport of goods,the judgment subject of force majeure "three impossibilities" should be the parties involved in the case,and the object of "three impossibilities" not only refers to the objective situation itself,but also includes its influence.In addition,in order to satisfy the force majeure,the "three cannot" should be possessed at the same time,and the force majeure has different influence on the contract,and its legal consequences are not the same.Secondly,this paper introduces the scope of the force majeure in the field of maritime transportation of goods,discusses the causality between the force majeure event and loss or damage of goods,and the attitude difference between typhoons and other force majeure accidents in our civil judicial practice and maritime judicial practice.Again,this paper focuses on the duty of loss mitigation and notification in the event of force majeure in the carriage of goods by sea.Among them,the main body of the derogation obligation should be the carrier and the shipper.Whether the derogation measures taken by the parties are appropriate or not needs the judge to make a free examination according to the specific circumstances of the case and the principle of good faith.The notice of the notification obligation shall be issued in time.It is generally believed that the content of the notice shall include both the occurrence of force majeure events and the failure to perform the contract as a result of such force majeure events.Finally,the paper focuses on how to share the cost loss between the parties in case of force majeure in the carriage of goods by sea.This content is not clearly stipulated in the Maritime Law.For prepaid freight and demurrage,the court generally chooses to respect the agreement between the parties in the maritime judicial trial.