Research On Retain Or Abolish The Maritime Carrier Nautical Fault Exemption

There are numerous exemption clauses for maritime carriers,the most important and most controversial of which is the Nautical Fault Exemption(NFE).This legal term was once very popular,however,it is being suspected today.Behind the reversal of the maritime community’s attitude towards NFE,there is a change in the comparison of the strength of the parties in the international maritime transportation.After several failures,the cargo side has never given up the desire to change the NFE,and a new round of the game of retaining or abolishing NFE appears again.The Maritime Community has not yet reached a unified conclusion,and the international maritime conventions also have different views on this topic;The Rotterdam Rules which was not entered into force failed to settle those disputes;Throughout the world’s major countries,the opinions on NFE are also unique.In the view of the confusion of NFE,and the status quo of the controversy over the existing arguments,this article reviews the past positions in detail,analyze the reasoning behind each stand,and consider the pros and cons of relevant positions that may have an impact on the shipping interests.At the same time,the article is not only based on the traditional four major international maritime conventions,but also pays more attention to the actual legislative measures in various countries,represented by typical countries in Europe,America,East Asia,Northern Europe,etc,and combines the shipping and trade practices of each country to explore the maritime legislation regulations of those countries,summarize the the positions of various countries and the process of changing their positions.Aiming at the current provisions of China’s Maritime Law,this article proposes that China should adopt a position that distinguished abolish NFE when amending the Maritime Law at this stage.With the rapid development of China’s shipping and trade practice,the current provisions of the Maritime Law concerning the NFE are flawed and inadequate and should be improved during the revision of the law.Based on the new historical starting point of the development of maritime transportation,China must not only see it’s advantages and progress as a large shipping country,but also clearly recognize the shortcomings of international cargo transportation services,and clarify the gap between China and the big shipping power.As a major global trader of goods,it is also necessary to take into account the interests of the cargo side.All in all,this article mainly focuses on China’s shipping and trade practice,focusing on the necessity of retaining the Navigation Fault Exemption in China,and the feasibility of abolishing the Management Fault Exemption meanwhile.