Off the wire
• UN increases food aid appeal for Zimbabwe  • China holds space military exhibition  • China readies next-gen radio heliograph for solar activities monitoring  • Namibia to unlock mechanisms on groundwater resource to avert water crisis  • Central Bank of Cyprus says data show signs of stabilization of financial sector  • China's anti-graft authority busts 90 cases of direct public harm  • Indian PM starts Africa tour with visit to Mozambique  • S. Africa expects Modi's visit to bolster cooperation: Presidency  • Burgas airport terrorists to be brought to justice: Bulgarian president  • WEF starts relief distributions of food assistance in Swaziland  
You are here: 　 Home

China court finds against Greek company in ship rescue fee case

Xinhua, July 7, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Supreme People's Court (SPC) on Thursday ruled that Greek investment company Archangelos should pay 6.6 million yuan (1 million U.S. dollars) plus interest to a rescue bureau for having saved a stranded ship owned by the company in 2011.

An oil tanker ran aground near the Qiongzhou Strait in south China on Aug. 12, 2011 with 26 crew and 54,580 tonnes of crude oil on board. The stranded ship posed a severe threat to life, property and the environment.

Acting on the instructions of Archangelos, the Ministry of Transport's Nanhai Rescue Bureau launched rescue mission, but the tanker was towed out of danger by a third party.

Following the incident, the company refused to pay the bureau on the grounds that the two sides never reached any specific agreement on how to calculate the fee and that the amount claimed by the bureau was too high.

Guangzhou maritime court ruled in favor of the bureau and Guangdong Higher People's Court supported Archangelos on appeal. The bureau appealed to the SPC in 2015.

The court held that, as the International Convention on Salvage and China's Maritime Law allow parties involved to determine the rescue fees but offer no details on contracts, China's Contract Law should determine the rights and obligations of involved parties.

The two sides had a specific agreement that, regardless of the outcome of the rescue attempt, Archangelos should pay an amount based on the bureau's input of time, materials and manpower, the SPC statement said.

The court ruled that the company should pay 6.6 million yuan plus interest, less than the 7 million plus demanded in the first instance by the bureau.

The case is important in determining whether international conventions or domestic laws should be applied in similar rescue scenarios. Endi