Legal Analysis Of International Containerized Cargo Claims

During the course of gradual containerization of the international transport, the legal issues confronted in the international containerized cargo loss or damage claims are attracting more and more attention of the practical and the legal practitioners.One of the main features of the containerized traffic is large amount, loss concealment.The defect of the cargo itself or the packing,the unworthiness or flaw of the cargo containers itself,the improper load or secure of cargo,the negligence in the operations of handling or loading and unloading,improper matching or securing of slot,in the transporting or the handling process not therefore,when or the department is firmly improper,the sweat produced inward in transit as well as other fortuitous events often resulted in huge losses.However,owing to the features of container,the loss before opening is difficult to discover,which intensifies the complexity of the international container damage claim.The reports of Shipowner's Protection and Indemnity(P&I) Mutual Clubs indicated that the cargo claim expenditure accounted for 10%in all expenses of shipping companies,and loss is much larger than the one estimated publicly.However,at the same time,related laws or regulations both at home and abroad on the container multimodal transport damage are inadequate.The differences betweeen the container multimodal transpor and the traditional freight resulted in the fact that the existing conventions and practices cannot solve the issue of the international container damage claim very well.The damage or shortage cauesd by trans-shippments as well as the deck container transportation,and the determination of the nature of damage or shortage at the junction point of transport,loss concealment,the status of freight forwarder,ship's husband and port operator as well as the following accountability questions,have been in current discussion and have not yet reached a consensus opinion.How to prevent and solve the problem of damage smoothly in order to reduce claim costs has been considered widely.This article aims to discuss how to distinguish the right and obligation clearly and explicitly when the damage occurred so as to reduce the cost of disputes.This article analyzes the fundamental types of and reasond for the international container damage.It is on the basis of a comparative analysis of the related legal regime as well as conventions and rules of various countries and areas all over the world,and uses transport theories and the relevant legal opinions as sources of reference.This article probes into the legal issues on liability in the relative International container damage,which could be beneficial for practitioners in the international container damage claim.The first chapter brings a brief introduction to the types of and reasons for the international container damage,and then conducts the research on the legal issues of the section qualification in the international container material damage.The function the section qualification in the international container material damage is made clear.The criteria for the section qualification in the international multi-modal transport of goods are proposed.This chapter analyzes liability system of the international container damage. The second and third chapters have made clear the concept of the principal part of the rights and obligations in the the international container damage claim,legal status,the legal characteristics as well as qualification requirements.The realtions among the shipper,the consignee,the owner of the bill of lading and the insurer are discussed.Based on the research of the core legal issue to the international container damage,namely the issue of the recognization, distinguishment,righs and obligations of the obligee and the obliger,the author proposes related suggestions and views.he fourth chapter combines the judicial practice,international conventions and Maritime Law of our country to analyze the onus probandi and the effectiveness of international container damage to cargo.In the marine transport damage claim,the burden of proof of marine cargo claim has ran through the whole process.This chapter describes the onus probandi which the claimant,the other side should take.How to present evidence/disclaim/assign the onus probandi are discussed.The author points out the insufficiencies of the extant international conventions,rules and national law in the international maritime transport and the questions easy to occur,and has given the revision opinion to give advice and help to solve problems in the international container damage claim.The fifth chapter points out insufficiencies of the extant international convention,rules as well as the national laws in the international container transport by the in deep analysis of the liability for damage in the international container transport,and proposes the more ideal multi-modal transport operator and third-party liability regime other than the multimodal transport contract.The author focuses on the issue of reduction of the damage of the parties and the reasonable, smooth solution to damage case,providing some suggestions,in order to help to solve the loss,damage and delay in delivery of the cargo in the international container transport.