—— Hong Kong Z Shipping Co., Ltd. v. Zheng and the Third-party Insurance Company 

Key Word：COLREGs; Crossing situation; Give-way obligations; Apportionment of fault; Collision damage

Facts：

On May 20, 2018, the Chinese-flagged bulk carrier M/V A, owned by Zheng, loaded 4,900 tons of bulk cement in Dalian and departed from Dalian Port bound for Wenzhou Port. On May 21, 2018, the Panamanian-flagged bulk carrier M/V B, owned by Z Shipping Co., Ltd. (hereinafter “Z Shipping”), loaded over 46,000 tons of coke and departed from Lianyungang Port. At approximately 5AM on May 22, 2018, the above two ships encountered each other in the southern Yellow Sea. When in sight of one another, the distance between the two ships was approximately 3 nautical miles, with M/V B located about 3 degrees abaft the starboard beam of M/V A. And M/V A mistakenly identified M/V B as an overtaking ship. When the distance between the two ships was approximately 1 nautical mile, both ships continued on their courses and speeds without taking evasive action. It was not until the distance narrowed to 0.4 nautical miles that M/V B began to turn left, while M/V A turned left and stopped, then reversed. When the distance between the two ships was only 0.17 nautical miles, the chief officer of M/V B made repeated calls to M/V A on the VHF radio but received no response. Subsequently, the two ships collided. The collision resulted in varying degrees of damage to both ships’ hulls. M/V B incurred losses including, but not limited to, repair costs, survey fees, and charter hire losses, while M/V A incurred losses including, but not limited to, repair costs, off-hire losses, and maintenance expenses. The insurance company of M/V A had already compensated its owner, Zheng, for part of the losses and damages. Before the Court, the central dispute concerns whether the two ships constitute a crossing situation or an overtaking situation.

Judgment：

Article 15 of the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (1972) provides that when two ships are crossing, the other ship on the starboard side of the own ship shall give way and take evasive action. The Court found that the present case falls under the situation of two ships crossing each other. On the basis of the facts and the provisions of the international convention, the Court determined the liability ratio of the two ships and held that Zheng is obliged to compensate Z Shipping for the losses of M/V B totaling over RMB 10 million plus interest, Z Shipping to compensate Zheng for various losses of M/V A totaling over RMB 100,000 plus interest, and Z Shipping to pay the insurance company part of the repair costs for M/V A. After the first-instance judgment, no party filed an appeal.

Typical Significance：

This case is a typical example of a dispute over liability for damage from ship collision concluded by applying the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (1972) . By interpreting and applying the relevant provisions of the Convention, the Court determined that the encounter situation between the two ships involved was a situation of meeting at a large angle or perpendicular crossing, rather than overtaking, thereby establishing the evasive obligations of the two ships. It was confirmed by this case that, as to comprehensively and accurately determine the proportion of responsibility, it is necessary to determine the encounter situation of the ships as well as the evasive obligations of the ships, then to analyze whether the ship has taken the most beneficial actions for collision avoidance at each stage of the collision situation and determine the ship’s responsibility for collision avoidance, and finally to examine whether there are any other faults related to the accident during the operation of the ship. The case is of strong guiding significance for similar cases, and has been included in the Case Database of People’s Courts.