Study Of The Legal Status Of Shore-based Operator Of Unmanned Ships And Its Impact Under The Law Of Carriage Of Goods By Sea

The purpose of this study is to explore the influence of the new legal subject,which is called shore-based operator of unmanned ships,on the application of existing maritime regulations.For the specific legal status of shore-based operator under the convention on the international conventions of carriage of goods by sea and Commercial Maritime Code of the Peoples Republic of China(hereinafter referred to as CMC)will affect the application of relevant terms,so this article need to analysis the specific legal status of shore-based operator under the convention on the international conventions of carriage of goods by sea and CMC first,and then analysis the influences of the specific legal statuses to the application of relevant terms.The first chapter is an overview of shore-based operator of unmanned ships.In the first section,the name,definition and classification of unmanned ships operated by shore-based operator are introduced,and in the second section,the existing expressions about shore-based operator of unmanned ships are introduced.On this basis,the definition of shore-based operator studied in this paper is clarified,that is,shore-based operator includes shore-based operators who are employed by shipowners and are responsible for remote controlling of unmanned ships and and third-party operating companies providing unmanned ship remote controlling service.Before analyzing the specific legal status of shore-based operator under various maritime regulations,it is necessary to define the basic legal status of shore-based operator.In the second chapter,three factors should be considered when judging the basic legal status of shore-based operator:(1)Two forms of technical supporting for shore-based operating;(2)Content and characteristics of the work of shore-based operator;(3)The legal relationship between shore-based operator and shipowners.Then,according to two forms of technical supporting for shore-based operating,two kinds of shore-based operator are identified.One is called 'hired shore-based operators' and the other one is called 'independent shore-based operators'.Hired shore-based operators are existed in the situation where the technical supporting for shore-based operating is provided by shipowners' employees.In the case,the actual operators are hired shore-based operators whose basic legal status are not'seamen' but 'the other servants of the shipowner'.Independent shore-based operators are existed in the situation where the technical supporting for shore-based operating is provided by a third-party operating company.In the case,the third-party operating companies are independent shore-based operators whose basic legal status are independent contractors.Then,in the third and forth chapters,the specific legal statues of these two shore-based operators and its impact under various maritime regulations will be analyzed.In the third chapter,as the key point for the shore-based operator to influence the application of maritime regulations is that the basic legal.status of hired shore-based operators is not seamen,so its impact to the application of current maritime regulations is mainly reflected on the performance of the carriers' airworthiness obligation and the application of maritime negligence exemption and fire exemption.The specific legal statues of hired shore-based operators under various maritime regulations can be identified as the servant of carrier,the servant of actual carrier or the servant of maritime performing party.Since these specific legal statues have the same impact on the relevant statutory obligations and liabilities of carrier in each maritime regulation,therefore,for the sake of convenience,the discussion in this chapter assumes that the shipowner is the carrier and hired shore-based operators are the carrier's servant.In the forth chapter,the specific legal statuses of independent shore-based operators under Hague-Visby Rules,Hamburg Rules,Rotterdam Rules and CMC are analyzed,as well' as its impact to the application of various maritime regulations.The details are:1.The independent shore-based operators can be identified as the agent of carrier under Hague-Visby Rules,excluding the term of contract claim.The special legal status affects the performance of carrier's airworthiness obligation,the application of maritime negligence exemption and fire exemption,and the application of Himalayan Clause under Hague-Visby Rules.2.The independent shore-based operators can be identified as the carrier's agent or the actual carrier's agent under Hamburg Rules,which makes the Himalayan Clause under Hamburg Rules can be directly applied to the independent shore-based operators.3.The independent shore-based operators can be identified as the maritime performing party or the subcontractor of maritime performing party under Rotterdam Rules,which affects the performance of the carrier's airworthiness obligations and the application of Himalayan Clause under Rotterdam Rules.4.The independent shore-based operators shall be identified as a new type of independent contractor under CMC,because it has no corresponding special legal status to them under CMC.This status affects the performance of carrier's airworthiness obligation,the application of maritime negligence exemption and fire exemption,and the application of Himalayan Clause under CMC.