A Study On The Ship Mortgagee's Insurable Interest And The Relative Legal Problems

The development of shipping industry is, to a large extent, based on the investment of the investor, while the investor puts great concentration on the safety of the investment. Under such a condition, the Law in current Chinese legal system prescribes that the investor enjoys the right to set mortgage on the ship, but it still cannot protect the rights of the investor effectively. By comparison, to establish insurance on the ship and the ship mortgagee's interest is to be considered as the two most useful methods to provide protections for the investor.The premise for the investor to get the indemnity from insurance is that he should have insurable interest on the subject matter insured. In the history of Insurance Law, the development of the principle of insurable interest should be mainly attributed to the outstanding Lords in the Common Law system and some leading cases. Therefore, this thesis, using the provisions of Marine Insurance Act 1906, the relative British marine insurance clauses, and some leading cases as clues, on the basis of legislative provisions of other countries and different doctrines, and with reference to the Civil Law theory, the provisions of Insurance Law and Maritime Law of PRC, makes an academic study. It begins with the explanation of marine insurable interest, then concentrates on the ship mortgagee's insurable interest, and at last puts forward some suggestions to the legislation, in the hope of making some contributions to the practice of marine insurance.The thesis is divided into three chapters.Chapter one is the general introduction of marine insurable interest. Firstly, it makes qualifications of marine insurable interest, including the definition, the nature, whom it must attach to, and the characteristics. Secondly, it expounds on the significance of the qualifications of marine insurable interest. Chapter two is the core of the thesis, making a thorough analysis of the ship mortgagee's insurable interest. This chapter falls into three parts. Part one is devoted to the mortgagee's insurable interest in ship insurance, including the legal foundation of its existence, the scope of the insurable interest, and the influence of the registration of mortgage on the mortgagee's insurable interest. Part two probes into the insurable interest in ship mortgagee's interest insurance, including the cause of appearance of such a new type of insurance, and the nature of insurable interest in this cover. Part three is a brief summary of the two above-mentioned types of insurance.Chapter three points out the problems existed in the legislation with regard to the mortgagee's insurable interest, and puts forward some suggestions.