Study On Civil Liability For The Goods Are Not Taken Delivery Of At The Discharge Port

Presently it is common for the goods not to be taken delivery of at the discharge port during international marine transport especially in containers transport, this brings serious damage to relevant parties especially to the carrier, also, this causes the public wealth to be wasted much. Due to the goods are not taken delivery of at the discharge port, the carrier's containers are long occupied, furthermore, the carrier need pay costs for garbage disposal, storing, electricity etc., meanwhile, the carrier is difficult to determine who should bear the final liability, the shipper or the receiver? At the time when the containers transport become the most important way in the marine transport, we must pay more attention to this issue, accordingly, the civil liability regarding the goods are not taken delivery of at the discharge port should be carefully studied.On the basis of the firsthand material obtained from the actual investigation and the reason why no one takes delivery of the goods at the discharge port, this paper first points out the significance of studying the issue. By analyzing the feature of the contract concerning carriage of the goods by sea and the legal relations among the carrier, the shipper and the receiver, this paper then studies who is in a position to claim losses and who should bear liabilities when the goods are not taken delivery of at the discharge port, revealing the limitation of the stipulations of the law, some legal suggestions are made to revise relevant articles of China Maritime Law.Finally, this paper holds that it is a liability of breach of the contract for the goods not to be taken delivery of at the discharge port, the carrier is entitled to claim their losses, the contracting shipper and the b/l named shipper who delivers the goods to the carrier are likely to be claimed by the carrier. Legal suggestions are made to clearly stipulate "the documentary shipper", "the receiver's limited obligations of taking delivery of the goods at the discharge port" and "stipulations in Maritime Law & Customs Law should coordinate", so that the issue concerning the goods are not taken delivery of at the discharge port can be entirely resolved.