Merchant Ships' Seaworthiness: Law and Practice

284 Pages·2023·2.221 MB·English

by  Xiankai Zhan, Pengfei Zhang

MERCHANT SHIPS’ SEAWORTHINESS
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Merchant Ships’ Seaworthiness: Law and Practice
Xiankai Zhan and Pengfei Zhang
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MERCHANT SHIPS’
SEAWORTHINESS
LAW AND PRACTICE
XIANKAI ZHAN AND PENGFEI ZHANG
First published 2023
By Informa Law from Routledge
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and by Informa Law from Routledge
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Informa Law from Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Xiankai Zhan and Pengfei Zhang
The right of Xiankai Zhan and Pengfei Zhang to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted in
accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any
electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
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Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only
for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-1-032-24738-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-24740-3 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-27993-8 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003279938
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
CONTENTS
Table of cases ix
Preface xiii
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 The historical development of seaworthiness 1
1.2 The obligation of seaworthiness under the Hague/Hague–Visby Rules 2
1.3 The obligation under British Marine Insurance 3
1.4 Clear seaworthiness provisions in the charter 4
1.4.1 Time charter 4
1.4.2 Voyage charters 7
CHAPTER 2 SEAWORTHINESS OF THE VESSEL 11
2.1 The meaning of seaworthiness under common law 11
2.2 Seaworthiness of the ship 12
2.3 Structure 13
2.4 Vessel broke in two and sank 19
2.5 Main engine breakdown 23
2.6 Vessel’s boiler 32
2.7 Breakage of propeller blades 34
2.8 Broken tailshaft 37
2.9 Steering gear 41
2.10 Reduction gear breakdown 44
2.11 Broken rivet points 47
2.11.1 Not necessary to check each 50
2.11.2 Exercise due diligence 51
2.11.3 Failure to exercise due diligence 54
2.12 Inadequacy of the stern doors 55
2.13 Gear 58
2.13.1 Gear’s power failure 59
2.13.2 Ramshorn hooks 61
2.13.3 Mainmast collapsed 63
2.14 Radar 66
2.15 Compass 69
v
contents
2.16 Ship spare parts 71
2.16.1 Unsuitable spare parts 72
2.16.2 Insufficient spare part 74
2.17 Anchor 76
2.18 Hatch cover/coaming 77
2.18.1 Hatch cover not watertight 81
2.19 Fuel oil 82
2.19.1 Insufficient fuel 85
2.19.2 Incompatible fuel oils 89
2.19.3 Bad-quality coal causes boiler damage 92
2.19.4 Lubricating oil 94
2.19.5 Failure of bunkering 96
CHAPTER 3 CARGOWORTHINESS 97
3.1 Cargoworthiness 97
3.2 Contamination 98
3.3 Discoloration of cargo 100
3.4 Crude oil washing system 102
3.5 Tank cleaning system 104
3.6 Heating coils 105
3.7 Hatch cover leakage 107
3.8 Cargo hold leakage 109
3.9 Ballast tank leakage 111
3.10 Damage to frozen meat 113
3.11 Sludge tank 115
3.12 Cargo residues 116
3.13 Infested 120
3.14 Plague 121
3.15 COVID-19 123
CHAPTER 4 CARGO STOWAGE 129
4.1 No tween deck bad stowage 129
4.2 Overloaded 134
4.3 Faulty stowage and reinsurance 135
4.4 Failure tarpaulin 137
4.5 List lost stability 140
4.6 Improper stowage 141
4.7 Bad stow and list 145
4.8 Ventilation/apples 148
4.9 Ventilation/potatoes 151
4.10 Condensation/burden of proof 153
4.11 Improper lashing 156
4.12 Howsoever arising or cause 158
4.13 Deck cargo/howsoever 161
vi
contents
CHAPTER 5 FIRE 165
5.1 Introduction 165
5.2 Cotton caught on fire 170
5.3 Ventilation system 172
5.4 Dangerous cargo under deck 177
5.5 Fire in engine room 181
5.6 C/E deliberately setting fire 183
5.7 Unseaworthy when catching fire 185
5.8 Lack of due diligence 187
5.9 Explosion 191
CHAPTER 6 CREW AND SPARE PARTS 197
6.1 Introduction 197
6.2 Ballast system lack of instruction 198
6.3 Stevedores stealing storm vale cover 200
6.4 Giving the stern order too late 202
6.5 Deviation 203
6.6 Incompetent second engineer 206
6.7 Inefficiency of crew 208
6.8 Insufficiency of crew 210
6.9 Negligence of engineer 213
6.10 A negligent of lookout 214
6.11 Non-delegable obligation 217
6.12 Crew incompetent 221
6.13 Absence of the glass panel 223
6.14 Overloading the vessel 225
6.15 Uncertificated officer and manning the vessel 227
6.16 Meaning of ship management 230
6.17 Repudiation of a time charter for crew unseaworthiness 234
CHAPTER 7 VESSEL’S CERTIFICATES AND DOCUMENTS 239
7.1 Introduction 239
7.2 Embargo 240
7.3 Swedish measurement certificate 241
7.4 Up-to-date charts 243
7.5 Chart discrepancies and grounding 245
7.6 Out-of-date charts 247
7.7 Passage plan 248
7.8 Deratisation certificate 254
7.9 RightShip approval 256
7.10 ITF 258
7.11 Documents 261
Index 267
vii

TABLE OF CASES
Tattersall v National Steamship Co (1884) 12 QBD 297 The Vortigern [1899], P119,121
The Mountoswald (1922) 11 Ll.L.Rep.86., P229
The Waco (1922) 10 Ll.L Rep.772 Atlantic Shipping & Trading Co. v Louis Dreyfus & Co., (1922)
10 Ll.L.Rep.707, P32,59,104
The Dimitrios N Rallias (1922) 13 Ll.L Rep.363(C.A.) The Clan Gordon (1923) 17 L.l.L.
Rep.120(H.L.), P47,53
The Grelwen (1924) 18 Ll.L. Rep.319(H.L.) The Yuri Maru (1924) 18 Ll.L.Rep.333(C.A.) The
Marjorie Seed (1926) 24 Ll.L.Rep.316 AE Reed & Co Ltd v Page, Son and East (1927) 27
Ll.L.Rep.114 (C.A.) The Northumberland (1927) 27 Ll.LR.395(H.L.) The Hyannis (1927) 28
Ll.L.Rep.243, P130,131
The Dramatist and Spectator (1927) 28 Ll.L.Rep.120 (C.A.)., P232
The Canadian Highlander (1928) 32 Ll.L.Rep.91 (H.L.), P231
The Taycraig (1928) 31 Ll.L.Rep.281, P210
The Bryntawe (1928) 32 L.l.L. Rep.155, P54
The Pencarrow (1933) 45 Ll.L Rep.190, P242
The Vendemiaire (1936) 55 Ll.L Rep.271, P106
The Trione (1937) 57 L.I.L. Rep.95(C.A.), P71
The Gianna M (1937) 57 Ll.L Rep.247 (C.A.), P100
The Thordoc (1937) 58 Ll.L Rep.33, P69
The Newbrough (1937) 58 Ll.L.Rep.45; (1938) 60 Ll.L.Rep.191(C.A.); (1939) 64
Ll.L.Rep.33(H.L.)., P87
The Anglo Colombian (1937) 58 Ll.L Rep.188, P50,53
The Roberta (1937) 58 L.I.L. Rep.231, P213
The Lilburn (1939) 64 Ll.L.Rep.87 (C.A.), (1940) 67 Ll.L.Rep.253 (H.L.), P145,247
The Highland Monarch (1939) 64 Ll.L.Rep.188, P113
The Winkleigh (1939) 64 Ll.L.Rep.264, P43,51
The Ovington Court (1940) 67 Ll.L.Rep.161 (H.L.), P129,158
The British Monarch (1949) 82 LI.L Rep.137, (H.L.), P92
The San George (1950) 84 Ll.L.Rep.354, (C.A.), P63,104
The Hopestar [1952] 2 Lloyd’s Rep.105, P19,20,21,43
The Princess Victoria [1953] 2 Lloyd’s Rep.619, P55,56,57
The Hector [1955] 2 Lloyd’s Rep.218, P137,138,200
The Empire Jamaica [1956] 2 Lloyd’s Rep.119 (H.L.), P227,229
The Assunzione [1956] 2 Lloyd’s Rep.468, P41
The Saxonstar [1958] 1 Llod’s Rep.73 (H.L.), P221
The Maurienne [1959] 2 Lloyd’s Rep.105 (P.C.), P185,187,253
The Nizeti [1960] 1 Lloyd’s Rep.132 (C.A.), P240
ix