China Law Blog: Report from China Maritime Law Conference
November 11, 2008 by SwizStick
Filed under Seafreight
Steve Dickinson from China Law Blog reports back from the China Maritime Law Conference and paints a pretty gloomy picture of China’s maritime industry:
Shipbuilders are finding that their shipbuilding contracts are being extensively breached. Since shipbuilders in China are mostly new companies, they are heavily in debt. These breaches threaten the life of the entire shipbuilding industry in China.
Vessel owners are finding that charter parties are refusing to pay charter payments. Some charter parties are demanding revisions to charter agreements. In more extreme cases, the charter parties are simply abandoning vessels in mid-voyage. [Editor's note: charter party agreements are essentially agreements to rent out a ship]
Shippers are finding that their customers are refusing to honor long term shipping agreements and are demanding extreme reductions in shipping rates.
Ports are finding their volumes rapidly decreasing. This is an especially serious problem with smaller and newer ports. It is also a problem with ports in the middle of ambitious expansion plans.
Read the whole thing, where he has some pointed advice for possible clients in the Chinese maritime industry on how they should deal with the issue.
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