——A Case Mediated by the Nanjing Maritime Court and Nanjing Maritime Safety Administration

Keywords: Personal injury compensation; Step‑by‑step mediation; One‑stop maritime dispute resolution center; Advance payment; Foreign‑related

Facts:

On 1 September 2022, while a foreign vessel was discharging cargo at a wharf company's terminal, two stevedores, Mr. Wang and Mr. Ding, entered the cargo hold for tallying and fell unconscious. Both died after resuscitation failed. Mr. Wang was an employee of Stevedoring Company A, and Mr. Ding was an employee of Stevedoring Company B.

After the accident, the statutory heirs of Mr. Wang and Mr. Ding demanded that the foreign vessel company, the wharf company, Stevedoring Company A, and Stevedoring Company B be jointly liable for personal injury compensation. The parties applied for mediation to the One‑stop Maritime Accident Dispute Resolution Center jointly established by the Nanjing Maritime Court and the Nanjing Maritime Safety Administration.

The case presented considerable complexity: first, multiple parties were involved, including the wharf company, the vessel owner, the stevedoring companies, and the families of the deceased stevedores; second, multiple legal relationships were intertwined, including labor contract relationships, entrustment contract relationships, and berth lease and cargo handling contract relationships; third, the cause of the accident was complex, potentially arising from the vessel owner's negligence in cargo management, or from management failures on the part of the stevedoring companies and the wharf company. Had the dispute been directly channeled into litigation, the foreign vessel would have faced the risk of arrest, and the lengthy judicial process would have further delayed the payment of death compensation to the families.

Mediation Process and Outcome:

Acting on the principle of priority protection of vulnerable groups, the Dispute Resolution Center adopted a step‑by‑step mediation approach to ease the conflicts.

First step: Ensuring that the families of the stevedores received full compensation at the earliest possible time. Within three days of the accident, the Center first organized the two stevedoring companies to sign “One‑time Work‑related Injury Compensation Agreements” with the families based on the labor contract relationship, under which each stevedoring company agreed to pay RMB 1.95 million in compensation. After the agreements were signed, the Center urged the stevedoring companies to promptly process work‑related injury insurance claims and commercial insurance claims and to pay the proceeds to the families without delay. For any shortfall, considering the limited solvency of the stevedoring companies, the Center persuaded the financially stronger vessel owner and wharf company to make advance payments, ensuring that the families received full compensation within a relatively short period and effectively easing their emotional distress.

Second step: Ensuring that the foreign vessel could depart promptly after the investigation was concluded. Within one month of the accident, the Center quickly organized the vessel owner, the wharf company, and the stevedoring companies to reach the “Agreement on Payment of Compensation and Provision of Letter of Guarantee,” under which the vessel owner, in addition to an advance payment of RMB 500,000, provided a letter of guarantee in the amount of RMB 4 million issued by an insurance company, undertaking to pay the final compensation amount as ultimately determined. The foreign vessel was thereby allowed to depart, and the vessel owner's expected commercial interests were effectively protected.

Third step: Clarifying each party's liability and finally resolving the dispute. After the emergency matters were addressed, the Center organized the vessel owner, the wharf company, and the stevedoring companies to mediate the internal allocation of liability. After multiple rounds of negotiations, a final mediation agreement was reached and substantively performed. The families of the two deceased stevedores each received RMB 1.95 million in compensation. Apart from the proceeds from work‑related injury insurance and accident insurance, the remaining compensation of over RMB 1.4 million was allocated as follows: the foreign vessel company bore approximately RMB 1.1 million, and the balance was borne by the wharf company and the stevedoring companies.

Typical Significance:

Personal injury compensation disputes occurring on the sea or in navigable waters are among the most acute types of disputes in practice, affecting the vital interests of vulnerable groups such as seafarers, fishermen, and dock workers. Such disputes require timely and proper resolution. In this case, the Dispute Resolution Center, adapting to the circumstances, adopted a step‑by‑step mediation approach, prioritizing the protection of the dock workers' rights. While temporarily setting aside the allocation of liability among the multiple responsible parties, the Center treated all responsible parties as a whole, first compensating the full losses of the dock workers externally, and then allocating liability among them internally. At the same time, through the use of a letter of guarantee, the Center resolved the tension between the lengthy dispute resolution cycle and the foreign vessel's need to depart for operations, effectively mitigating the confrontations among the responsible parties. The successful mediation of this case provides a useful reference for resolving complex foreign‑related maritime personal injury compensation disputes.