Study On Identification Of Ship Operators And Other Relevant Legal Issues

The identification of "ship operator" is one of the important issues, which cries for settlement in maritime judicial practice. Although, the concept of "ship operator" has already existed in relevant international conventions and China Maritime Code, there are still opinions varied on its specific meaning. As for ship operator itself can become such kind of person who could enjoy limitation of liability for maritime claims, so in practice when should be responsible, many persons demand to limit his liability, which not only goes against the legal rights of the third party, but also does harm to the existence and development of the system of limitation of liability for maritime claims. Therefore, it is very necessary to analyze the legal features of ship operators so as to establish relatively reasonable and feasible standard for identifying ship operators.Owning to the confusion in understanding of what constitute a ship operator, this thesis should grasp the legal features that a ship operator should have through analyzing the primary intention of setting up the concept of "ship operator", but not starting with those existed forms of so called "ship operator" in practice. By analyzing the relative regulations in some international conventions, author thinks that in nature a ship operator should be a kind of person who could possess or control a ship or ships legally. With this feather or standard, author further concludes certain standards for the identification of ship operator. Moreover, this thesis attempts to probe into some relevant issues such as the legal liability of ship operators, ship operators' registry and insurance, so as to contribute to the relative regulations concerning ship operators.