By invitation of School of Law, City University of Hong Kong, Guangzhou Maritime Court sent 20 judges to Hong Kong to organize special training in nautical knowledge from 16 to 21 December 2013.

    During the training, senior maritime lawyers, port experts, company law experts, and maritime law professors from Hong Kong shared knowledge in maritime arbitration, civil procedure, lightering at transshipment ports, company registration in Hong Kong, as well as remuneration, welfare, and work-related injury handling of expatriate crew. Besides the courses, the trainees also visited Hong Kong International Terminals (HIT) and Pearl River Warehouse Terminal for fieldwork.

    On 29 November 2013, Guangzhou International Maritime Law Seminar 2013 was successfully held by the Ocean Shipping Regulation Committee of China Maritime Law Association, the Guangdong Provincial Lawyers Association, Yang & Lin Co., Law Firm and other organizations. More than 500 people from the industry were in attendance including, people’s courts, maritime safety administrations, shipping lines, insurers, mutual assurance associations, universities, environmental protection departments, fishery administrations, salvage bureaus, shipyards, port authorities, waterway administrations, maritime law firms both at home and abroad, freight forwarding agents and adjusters attended the seminar, with 30 distinguished foreign guests included.

    Participants in the seminar held heated discussions, examining difficult and cutting-edge issues relating to maritime theory and practice. Such topics included were the legality and practice in examining and hearing cases of disputes over freight forwarding by sea, marine insurance and maritime adjudication, introduction to marine investigation carried out by maritime authorities, questions related to the incidents arising during the transportation of cargoes which may liquefy, issues of evidences and law application in claims against damages of marine pollution and law application in cases of disputes over contract for domestic waterway cargo transportation.

      Recently, this Court received a letter of appreciation from Professor Helen Sampson who is also the director of the Seafarers International Research Centre, expressing the appreciation of our support and assistance to their field research focusing on the legal system and practice pertaining to the compensation for work-related injuries and casualties to Chinese seafarers.

    On 23^rd October 2013, the 19^th National Maritime Court Law Enforcement Seminar was held in Guangzhou. Presidents and vice-presidents in charge of law enforcement from 10 maritime courts nationwide, as well as authors of relevant papers (over 50), attended the seminar. Wang Yanjun, vice-president of Civil Division IV of the Supreme People’s Court, Huang Xiwu, judge of Civil Division IV of the Supreme People’s Court, Xu Peihua, president of the law enforcement department of the Guangdong Higher People’s Court, and Wang Jianping, vice-president of Civil Division IV of the Guangdong Higher People’s Court, were invited to the seminar. The seminar was held by Guangzhou Maritime Court.

    During the seminar, Meeting Minutes regarding Mutual Assistance in Handling Matters Entrusted by Maritime Courts Nationwide was discussed and concluded. The seminar also included thorough discussion on matters such as problems and solutions on vessel detentions, auctions and debt allocations during the law enforcement process, and the maritime law enforcement system following the amendment of the Civil Procedure Law.

        In March 2013, a voyage charter party was entered between a Singaporean and an Indian company. Due to delay by the Indian company, the payment of freight and demurrage at the port of loading/unloading, under that charter party rose to the amount of 247,000USD. On 16^th September, the arbitration was brought before the London Court of International Arbitration by the Singaporean company in accordance with the charter party.

        On October 8, 2013, the Singaporean company applied before the Guangzhou Maritime Court for security of maritime claims, requesting for detention of MV/KIRAN, owned by the Indian company and moored at Port of Guangzhou, Guangdong, and providing the Court with a guarantee of 300,000USD. On 9^th October, Guangzhou Maritime Court detained MV/KIRAN in accordance of the law.

        As MV/KIRAN was detained, the Indian company actively negotiated with the Singaporean company. The day after the detention, the parties reached a reconciliation agreement regarding the compensation amount. The Singaporean company proceeded to withdraw its application for the London arbitration and applied to release MV/KIRAN. The Guangzhou Maritime Court has since released MV/KIRAN. The case of the dispute over the voyage charter party between the Singaporean company and the Indian company is now officially closed.

    On 22 August 2013, a series of cases went to trial by Guangzhou Maritime Court by applying small claims procedure. This was the first time the Court applied the procedure since the amended Civil Procedure Law came into force. Besides the plaintiff parties, four deputies to the Municipal People’s Congress also attended the trial.

    From 25 to 26 July 2013, Guangzhou Maritime Court held an open trial on a series of disputes over pollution damages caused by the sinking of M/V Kenos Athena.

    In March of last year, the Korean vessel M/V Kenos Athena loaded with approximately 7,000 tons of sulfuric acid and 140 tons of bunkers sank in the Shanwei waters of Guangdong Province. Subsequently the plaintiffs, MSA and the Administration of Ocean and Fisheries, brought action against the owners and insurer of M/V Kenos Athena, requesting the payment of RMB 150,000,000; including clean-up and pollution control costs, wreck marking costs, emergency response and salvage expenses, as well as direct pecuniary loss of national fisheries resources, and loss of natural fisheries resources.

    Representatives of the MSA, Administration of Ocean and Fisheries, surveyors, owners and insurers of M/V Kenos Athena, and attorneys on behalf of the parties attended the trial.

    On 17 January, 2013, M/V "Quan Shun Li", loaded with more than 3,000 tons of sugar on her voyage from Fangcheng Port to Shanghai, was stranded in the sea area of Guangdong Huilai, leading to water ingress into her cargo holds which damaged the cargo onboard. The ship instructed a salvaging company to salvage the subject cargo; however, a dispute over the salvage costs occurred, Salvage Company, the ship and the merchant. The salvor intended to dispose of the cargo by exercising its lien thereon; while the merchant applied with Guangzhou Maritime Court for an injunction to order the salvor and the ship to deliver the cargo.

    On 19 April, Guangzhou Maritime Court convened a hearing participated by the three parties and heard the views of each party. Through a review, the Court decided that the act of salvage shall be encouraged and the salvor is entitled to detain the salvaged cargo, provided that the lien is exercised to a reasonable extent without devaluing the cargo or expanding loss of the cargo. Since the sugar cargo dissolves easily and had been subjected to water immersion, it released a large amount of water and increasingly devalued with the weather getting warmer day by day. Ultimately, Guangzhou Maritime Court ruled according to law to approve the merchant’s application for maritime injunction on the condition that the merchant provides a satisfactory counter-guarantee sufficient to secure payment for the salvage costs and to order the salvor to deliver the cargo to the merchant.

    In June of this year, the NPC Standing Committee conducted the 2^nd consideration on the draft amendment of the "Environmental Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China". With the Guangzhou Maritime Courts experience of handling public-interest litigation cases, Zhan Simin the vice president of the Court, was invited to attend to represent the national maritime court system.  On May 22, the forum for comments on the draft amendment was convened by the administration law division of the Legal Affairs Commission under the National People's Congress Standing Committee.