Several Legal Issues Of Marine Insurance In China

At present, many legal disputes exist between the insurer and insured in the practice of hull insurance. Such as the questions as to whether the indirect ship collision belongs to the insurance coverage of the Collision Liability Clause in the China Hull Insurance Clauses (1986.1.1) of our country; according to what conditions the insurer should consider a ship as unseaworthy and refuse indemnification; what items in detail the insured should inform the insurer of; in what legal position the insured would be if the insured breaks the liability to inform, and etc.Some of the above questions should probably be generated from the insured's ambiguous understanding about the relevant legal concepts such as the liability to inform and seaworthiness; some should be attributed to the legality of the insurer's customary practice or uncertainty of judicial practice, for instance, the questions related to the indirect ship collision. Considering that the above questions often incur claims in a huge amount or even for total loss of ship, the insurer and insured should pay much attention to the above questions. These legal disputes in the practice involve the legal theory and are tightly connected with the maritime law, insurance law, contract law and relevant international custom etc..In this thesis, the author would study and discuss the above questions in depth through comparative study on the relative legal rules and hull insurance clause of our country and foreign countries taking into account the actual practice of our country, thus reaching the following conclusions:1. Indirect ship collision shall be within the liability range covered by the Collision Liability Clause in the China Hull Insurance Clauses (1986.1.1) of our country.2. The insurer, if rejecting the claims because of the ship's unseaworthiness, has to meet the following indispensable requirements: a. seaworthiness, b. the ship's sailing time, c. the insured knows or should know about the unseaworthiness, and d. the damage, liability and expenses caused by the unseaworthiness.In addition, the author has put forward her own suggestions for revising the above two points in the Collision Liability Clause in the China Hull Insurance Clauses (1986.1.1) of our country.As to "the liability to inform", the author based on the practice of hull insurance has enumerated the important things which the insured should actually inform of, and which will otherwise bring about the legal consequences.It is my sincere hope that the studies of these legal questions of very practical meaning will benefit hull insurance in theoretical research and practical operation.