Ship Collision Under French Maritime Law:Comparative Study With Chinese Law

Collision cases constitute almost 30%of maritime claims.The collision numbers are reducing nowadays due to modern technological development on board,however the appearance of steam navigation and steel hulls increased the severity of collision damages.The after effects of a ship's collision on marine and human life are immeasurable in addition to the detrimental environmental effects.The modern equipment in the navigation assists to find out the blameworthiness more accurately than earlier.A vessel collision is most certainly one of the most feared catastrophes for a seafarer,due to the potential immediate risk of sinking that it implies and the usually massive destruction/wreckage that it causes.Vessel collisions most often originate from a human error.It is therefore necessary to include the human factor to the process if one wish to determine the causes that lead to a default in watch or a poor handling of anti-collision manoeuvres,thus allowing to find ways to compensate for these errors.Another specificity of collisions is the fact that,in maritime law,they benefit from a specific regime,including in French law where their legal regime is one of the few based on fault and negligence.This however is an old legal regime which needs to adapt to the evolution of modern means of carriage by sea.This specificity also translate through the existence of a specialised jurisdiction:Maritime commercial courts and a specific Penal and Disciplinary Code of Merchant Marine.The purpose of this thesis is to find out the legal basis for establishing and the apportionment of collision liability under French law taking into consideration as well as the numerous influences which international conventions currently bear on this issue and clarify the question of who may be liable for the compensation of damages arisen therefrom.Moreover,it is intended to critically analyze,compare and co-relate French and Chinese legislations regarding collision cases.This thesis compares both countries' collision regimes and how to assess damages in view to compensate its victims with reference to both national laws and relevant international conventions.The author draws her final conclusions from the different chapters of the thesis.This article is divided into five chapters.Chapter 1,"Introduction "contains the background of the study,the methodology used and the purpose of the paper.Chapter 2,"Jurisdiction and applicable laws in Collision cases" illustrates the competent Jurisdiction in collision litigation and also the elementary concepts involved in the article,such as the definition,characteristic and key component of ship collision.Meanwhile it identifies the different international sources of collision law in France and the domestic laws applicable in ship collision cases.Chapter 3,"Collision liability regime".This chapter draws on the impact of international conventions on the French maritime law concerning the liability scheme,and also focuses on the analysis and comparison of the French and Chinese legislations on the liability subject for compensation of ship collision damages.Chapter 4,"Collision damages".this chapter points out the different categories of recoverable damages in France,and the principles governing their assessment.Chapter 5,"Conclusion" summarizes the different issues arising therefrom and the differences and similarities between France and China concerning their laws on collision.