Shipping Practices Research

As we all know, China officially became a member state of WTO in 2001, accordingly all the industries of China are taking faster steps to adjust themselves and amend or make new laws or regulations, so as to participate in the international competition and to found an advantageous status in the world economy. And China's shipping industry is not exceptional. Membership of WTO means not only an opportunity, but also a challenge. However, one point is out of question: to maintain an advantageous position in shipping industry and relevant legal practice, one has to master the rules for shipping industry. But, what are the rules for shipping industry? Clearly, rules for shipping industry consist not only of maritime laws of different nations and a number of international maritime conventions, but of statutory and non-statutory international shipping practices. Maritime laws constitute a special part of legal field. And as one of the origins for maritime laws, the influence of international maritime practices in this field cannot be neglected. However, China lacks systematic research in shipping practices, the knowledge and application of the same are also limited and there are frequent disputes over the existence of a certain shipping practice. Therefore, international shipping practices as subject, this dissertation intends to make a preliminary systematic research of shipping practices, so as to give enlightenment in this respect to shipping enterprises and relevant industries.This dissertation can be structurally divided into three parts. The first part is mainly devoted to theoretical and conceptive introduction to international shipping practices, which includes the first three chapters. In order to make a systematic research to international shipping practices, we shall first understand what is international shipping practice and the first chapter deals with this matter. This chapter gives description to concept and range of international customs andinternational shipping practices, and emphasizes on introductions to different opinions of a number of scholars to concepts of and relations among "custom", "practice", and "custom law". The aim of which is to offer a profound description of concepts of international shipping practices. The second chapter mainly introduces the history of shipping practices with a purpose of deepening the understanding of shipping practices in this respect. The third chapter renders an overall introduction to theories concerning different aspects of shipping practices, including features, forms, classifications, functions, characters, etc., which is theoretically significant for determination by relevant authorities of existence or not of shipping practices and how to put the same into application.Mastery of theoretical knowledge of international shipping practices is still not enough. Problems in application of international shipping practices frequently incur in shipping industry and maritime legal practices, which cannot be duly handled with only knowledge of theoretical concepts of shipping practices, therefore the second part of this dissertation is mainly devoted to the practical application of shipping practices, which attempts to give substantial opinions for application of shipping practices. This part consists of the fourth and fifth chapters, and is the core part of this dissertation. In practical shipping business, we are often confronted with questions like: What are the relations between international maritime conventions, laws, contract clauses and international shipping practices? Which shall prevail when they conflict with international shipping practices? And in which way international shipping practices serve an explanatory and supplementary part for conventions, laws and contract clauses? The fourth chapter provides answers to these questions. This chapter makes respective comparisons between conventions, laws, contract clauses and international shipping practices, represents in details their respective difference and relation, and discusses related i...