Maritime Accident Symposium 2020
 

The participants had a heated discussion on professional issues related to ship collision, maritime investigation and court trial, and specifically exchanged views and thoughts on how liability should be apportioned for the collision between Ship "A" and Ship "B" in Zhuhai waters and whether the avoidance measures respectively taken by the vessel in the course of events leading up to the collision were in line with the relevant international collision regulations, domestic rules and good seamanship.

The determination of liability for a ship collision, which is a prerequisite for determining damages due from one ship to the other, is in essence the apportionment of degrees of fault. Being apportioned 10% more or less of the fault for the collision, one ship might need to pay several hundred thousand or even tens of million of yuan more or less to the other after offsetting their respective liabilities towards each other. The apportionment of fault between both ships also has a direct bearing on the final outcome of their respective liabilities towards other claims resulting from the collision, such as personal injury or loss of life, wreck removal, oil spill prevention, response, clean-up, etc. Therefore, a reasonable apportionment of the degrees of fault is vital important. On the other hand, the task of apportioning liability for ship collision is often a highly technically-complex process, which requires a high degree of professionalism and knowledge in ship navigation, international collision regulations, domestic navigation rules, climate and hydrological characteristics of local waters and other elements, and thus no small challenge to the judiciaries, maritime accidents investigation authorities and maritime law practitioners.

The Symposium witnessed an in-depth exchange of views and collision of thoughts surrounding the main topics among participants from Guangzhou Maritime Court, Zhuhai MSA and our firm.