The Study On The Liability For Time Charterer In Exercising The Direction Right

Under the time charter,the charterer’s right of direction is the charterer’s right granted by the shipowner to issue relevant orders and directions to the master and crew on the employment of the ship according to the contents agreed in the contract.The captain and crew are obliged to obey the charterer’s directions within the scope stipulated in the contract.Due to the characteristics of the time charter,the shipowner and the charterer are respectively responsible for the two main aspects of the ship during the charter period.The shipowner is responsible for the navigation and management of the ship while the charterer is responsible for the employment of the ship.The dual control of the shipowner and charterer over the ship will inevitably lead to unclear boundaries between the rights and obligations of both parties and the problem of liability for losses arising from the operation of the ship.Therefore,the research objective of this paper is to study the problem of the captain’s liability for losses incurred in the process of executing the charterer’s directions on the basis of the necessary definition of the scope of the charterer’s directions.By studying the relationship among the captain,the shipowner and charterer,and applying the theories of causality and compensation for damages,the division of liability is analyzed,so as to reasonably and fairly divide the liability for damages between the shipowner and the charterer.This article is divided into four chapters.Based on the legal theory and combined with the jurisprudence in practice,this article summarizes the general principles that the shipowner and the charterer should follow when determining the liability under the time charter contract and the factors that should be considered when determining the liability.On this basis,it puts forward some suggestions on the imperfection of the provisions on the charterer’s right of direction under the Chinese law.The first chapter mainly introduces the direction right of the charterer.The content of the charterer’s instruction right is defined from the legal level and the contract level respectively,and the subjects that can give instructions on behalf of the charterer are analyzed.On this basis,it studies the importance and necessity of stipulating the charterer,s right of instruction from the perspectives of the nature of the time charter and the rights comparison between the time charterer and bareboat charterer.Provide the basis for the following division of responsibilities between the shipowner and the charterer.The second chapter is the analysis of the responsibility under the charterer’s direction right.The basic principles that should be followed in bearing the losses caused by breach of contract are determined.However,the charterer’s act of exercising the right of instruction in accordance with the eontract does not constitute a breach of contract for losses incurred under the charterer’s right of instruction.How should the shipowner safeguard its own damaged rights and interests if the charterer does not breach the contract?This chapter analyzes the recognition of the shipowner’s right to claim and the related factors that restrict the shipowner,5 right to elaim under English law by introducing the implied terms system under English law.At the same time,it analyzes the relevant provisions under our country’s law and studies the theory on which the shipowner should be granted the right to claim compensation under our country’s law.The third chapter is to analyze the loss eaused by improper directions from the charterer.The charterer has no right to give improper directions,and the captain has the right to refuse to carry them out.However,in practice,the captain often carries out improper directions from the charterer.Whether the acts carried out by the captain will change the determination of the charterer’s directions and whether the captain’s acts will affect the loss results are the main analysis contents of this chapter.The fourth chapter is a study on the liability arising from the obstruction of the charterer’s right of direction.During the operation of the ship,the smooth implementation of the instructions given by the charterer requires the cooperation of many parties,including the clear instructions themselves,the captain’s assistance,and the permission of objective conditions.Therefore,the reason why the charterer’s right of instruction is blocked is also due to the influence of various factors.This chapter defines the main body responsible for the losses caused by the obstruction by dividing the reasons for the obstruction of the charterer’s right of direction,and elaborates the relief methods for the obstruction of the right of direction.