船舶承租人海事赔偿责任限制权利初探--兼评"The CMA Djakarta"轮案

1976年<海事赔偿责任限制公约>将船舶承租人归入船舶所有人,赋予责任限制权利.但是公约未明确规定承租人的范围和可限制责任的索赔.海事司法实践中,需要运用适当的法律解释方法,析明公约规定的含义、正确裁判,以实现公约目的.通过解释,公约规定的承租人应当是光船承租人、期租承租人和航次承租人等的统称.船舶所有人遭受的直接财产损失不是可限制责任的索赔,船舶承租人无权对此限制责任.船舶所有人提出的船载货物损害追偿索赔,承租人仍有权限制责任.我国<海商法>的相关规定应当作相同解释与理解.

Right of Limitation of the Liability of Charterers--With Comments on the"CMA Djakarta"Case

The Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims,1976, incorporates the charterer into the shipowner,granting a right to limit his liabilitiy.However,there is no clear stipulation,in the convention,on the scope of the charterer and the claims subject to his limitation.Therefore,in judicial practice,it is necessary to apply proper interpretation methods to ascertain the meaning of certain stipulations,to pursue just judgments,to realize the object and purpose of the convention.According to interpretations,the word"charterer"in the Convention shall be deemed to be a combination of bare-boat charterer,time charterer,and voyage charterer.Physical property loss or damages suffered by the shipowner should not be included into claims subject to limitation.The charterer has no right to limit this liability.However, as to recourse claims raised by the shipowner concerning the loss of or damage to cargos on board the ship,the charterer should be entitled to limit his liability.Certain stipulations of Chinese Maritime Code should subject to the same interpretations and the same significations.