Influence On Protection And Indemnity Insurance Of Shipowners From New Obligations And Liabilities Under Rotterdam Rules

UN Convention on the Contracts of International Carriage of Goods Wholly orPartly by Sea was submitted to and approved by General Assembly by theCommission on International Trade Law on11December in2008, and has beenopened for signature in Rotterdam since23September in2009, so it was also referredto as the Rotterdam rules. Conforming to the trend of the development of internationaltrade and international shipping market, balancing the interests between carriers andshippers under the contracts of international carriage of goods by sea, Rotterdam rulesfurther increased the carrier’s obligations and liabilities, based on the existingprovisions in Hague rules, Visby rules and Hamburg rules, which embodied as theextending period of seaworthiness, more links of management of goods, theconfirmation of delay in delivery not within the time agreed and increasing ofliabilities.The Protection and Indemnity Insurance is the insurance against third partyliabilities under contracts of international carriage of goods by sea, and usuallyprovided by the P.&I. Clubs. As the latest convention on international carriage ofgoods by sea, Rotterdam rules adjusts the carrier’s obligations and liabilities, andimpacts the management of Protection and Indemnity Insurance, concentrating on theinfluence on P.&I. Clubs and interested parties of Protection and Indemnity Insurance. In order to cope with the influence aforesaid, the P.&I. Clubs has been forced to raisethe vessel inspection standards, increase the calls and expand the scale of investment.The P.&I. Clubs, in the meantime, transfers the influence aforesaid to interestedparties of Protection and Indemnity Insurance, therefore causing them beseted withnumerous contradictions.This thesis is divided into four sections. Through the analysis and study of theincreased carrier’s obligations and liabilities under the Rotterdam rules, by means ofthe discussions and comments on influence from the convention, the thesis aims to getthe conclusion that China should open its Protection and Indemnity Insurance marketand establish related access mechanism.