Study On The Issue Of Insurance Liability Of Piracy Ransom

In recent years,the pirate attacks in various parts of the world,especially in and around the Gulf of Aden,have drew close attention of the international community,especially the shipping industry and the marine insurance industry.The continued increase in pirate attacks and the huge losses caused by people began to explore the coverage of piracy risks in modern marine insurance contracts.In the history of the marine insurance industry,the qualitative and violent changes in piracy risk are sometimes classified as maritime risks,which are covered by marine insurance policies,and sometimes classified as war-based risks,and thus covered by war risk insurance policies.The different definitions of the nature of piracy risk also make different marine insurance markets adopt different ways to cover the risk of pirates,which makes the correct identification of the nature of pirates constantly in the discussion of the marine insurance industry.Before 2005,when the London marine insurance industry underwrote ships,the piracy risk was usually included in the hull insurance policy.However,the ongoing pirate attack prompted some insurers to start moving the pirate risk out of the marine insurance policy and turn it into war.Insurance policy coverage.The US insurance market is different from the London insurance market.The piracy risk is identified as a war-based risk and is covered by war risk insurance policies.In particular,considering the high pirate attacks in recent years,the US insurance market will continue to practice.Stay the same.At present,the Somali pirate attacks are clearly different from the traditional pirate attacks,because the main purpose of Somali pirates is to ask the shipowners for ransom by hijacking ships,cargo and ship personnel,and as a condition for releasing the hijacking,The ransom is even claimed on the condition that the crew is released separately.In response to the threat posed by the pirate attacks to the shipping industry,the pirate insurance industry must respond to ransom issues.At present,the Somali pirate attacks are clearly different from the traditional pirate attacks,because the main purpose of Somali pirates is to ask the shipowners for ransom by hijacking ships,cargo and ship personnel,and as a condition for releasing the hijacking,The ransom is even claimed on the condition that the crew is released separately.In response to the threat posed by the pirate attacks to the shipping industry,the pirate insurance industry must respond to ransom issues.At present,there is still controversy over whether the ransom paid to the pirates should be covered by the hull insurance or the war risk insurance.At the same time,because the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea are the only way for the ships passing the Suez Canal,to meet the shipowners' The special needs of the region,the insurance market introduced a new kidnapping ransom insurance policy(K&R policy),underwriting piracy ransom and other expenses associated with it.In addition,because the violence of Somali pirates may lead to the injury or death of the crew,the shipowners' mutual insurance association's response to piracy is also very important,and whether the piracy of piracy can be insured or shared by the shipowners' mutual insurance association has also caused the shipping industry.discussion.For cargo insurance,the London marine insurance market still includes piracy risk in the association's cargo terms,and the US practice is the opposite of London.The cargo insurer,like the ship insurer,puts the piracy risk under the war risk insurance policy.Considering the current increase in the number of pirate attacks and the increasing challenges that piracy risks pose to the insurance market,the London Cargo Insurance Market has a high probability of incorporating piracy risks into war risk insurance policies.The United Nations Security Council plays an important role in safeguarding world peace.In order to deal with the piracy problem in the Horn of Africa,the SecurityCouncil has adopted two resolutions to authorize capable countries to send military forces to fight piracy and maintain the stability of the nearby seas.Thereby ensuring the orderly conduct of the shipping order.Naval forces in many countries cruise in the Red Sea,the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.It can be said that there is already an internationally recognized passage corridor in the Gulf of Aden.The waters covered by the corridor are due to the existence of multinational naval forces.Choose to pass through the area to protect against pirates.Although the intervention of sovereign states has greatly improved the security situation in the region,the huge waters of the Indian Ocean make it impossible for the naval cruise to cover all waters.Although the navies of many countries also provide escort services,the shipowners have signed with the navy.Escort agreements often create serious imbalances,and may still not meet some of the special requirements of P&I Clubs for ships crossing high-risk areas,so the involvement of state forces is not enough to eliminate the effects of pirates.For shipowners,the best way to protect ships and onboard cargo is still to cover hull insurance policies that specifically cover the risk of pirates.In the past,piracy mainly manifested as piracy boarding ships,plundering property on ships and damaging ships or cargo.As long as piracy's destruction accords with the definition of piracy in insurance practice,part or all of the loss of goods or ships caused by piracy is within the scope of piracy insurance,and there is no problem with the traditional insurance clauses.But the current Somali piracy is somewhat different from previous piracy:after hijacking ships,these pirates do not destroy or resell ships or goods,but keep them in good condition to demand a large ransom from the owner.In this case,how to determine the nature of piracy ransom and how to share the costs among the relevant stakeholders have become a headache for shipowners,cargo owners and their respective insurers.At the same time,due to the emergence of new insurance clauses for pirate ransom,the overall structure of marine insurance has appeared overlapping and overlapping,and the marine insurance industry has launched a heated discussion for this.The problem of piracy ransom ultimately involves the insurance liability of marine insurers.It needs to solve a series of problems,such as the nature of piracy,the establishment of the insurer's liability,and the allocation of liability among different insurers.As a pirate-prone region,the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia are almost the only way for international maritime transport in China.According to the reported news,Chinese vessels and vessels with Chinese backgrounds are deeply troubled by pirate attacks.In the future,pirate attacks against Chinese vessels and vessels with Chinese backgrounds will probably occur.Therefore,exploring the insurance liability of pirate ransom is of great significance to the healthy development of marine insurance industry and maritime judicial practice.This paper intends to analyze the research on piracy ransom in four chapters.Chapter ? introduces the general situation of piracy and piracy ransom,understands the background and reasons of piracy ransom,and should explore the new challenges posed by piracy ransom to marine insurance.Chapter ? analyzes the underwriting of piracy ransom in the standard format contract with wide application scope in the current marine insurance market.Firstly,the pirate risk in the hull insurance clauses of different insurance markets is compared and analyzed.Then,the analysis of the pirate risk underwriting conditions in different sea cargo transportation insurance standard contracts is analyzed.Finally,the relevant provisions in the P&I insurance are analyzed.Due to space limitations,only the standard format contracts of the London Insurers Association and the American Insurers Association and the piracy risks in the standard format contracts common to the Chinese marine insurance market are analyzed.Chapter ? analyzes the disputes concerning piracy insurance for pirates.Analyze the conditions for the establishment of insurance liability for piracy ransom insurance,the research on the insurer's right of defense and the evaluation of relevant judicial opinions.It mainly uses the judicial precedents of the United Kingdom and the United States as a comparative study to analyze the differences and hopes to provide useful lessons for Chinese courts to deal with similar disputes.Chapter ? introduces some thoughts on perfecting China's piracy ransom insurance system,analyzes the problems existing in the relevant provisions of shipinsurance,cargo insurance and P&I insurance,and proposes possible solutions.For example,the improvement of relevant insurance clauses should be Learn from the relevant provisions of the London insurance market.At the same time,consideration should also be given to amending the relevant provisions of the Marine Insurance Law.In summary,to study the insurance liability of piracy ransom,we should first determine the definition of piracy,while the definition of piracy in traditional public international law is too narrow and not suitable for full copying in private French.The specific solution is to insure French at sea.In the context of piracy,the definition of piracy should include the definition of Armed robbery against ships(IMO).Regarding the burglary ransom,the commercial insurance premium rate for pirate risk is generally high due to the huge number of pirates claiming ransom.At this time,the more appropriate choice is that the shipowners' mutual insurance association covers the risk of piracy.When the court determines whether the insurance liability for piracy ransom is established,it should consider the role of ransom in protecting the safety of human life and promoting the healthy development of the shipping industry,affirming the legality of ransom payments and the legitimate rights and interests of the injured parties who have been attacked by pirates to be get protected.