船舶适航性持续保证条款
来源：美国保赔协会
协会经理部了解到，会员有时会被提议与相对方订立要求船东为整个航程提供适航性持续保证的合同条款。如果出现这种情况，协会敦促会员在签订合同条款之前保持谨慎，因为此种保证条款会损害会员的保赔保险保障范围。
协会对于货物风险的保险条件为，会员订立不如海牙-维斯比规则（HVR）有利的条款。海牙•维斯比规则第三条第一段规定，承运人须在开航前和开航时谨慎处理：
* 使船舶适航；
* 适当地配备船员、装备船舶以及配备供应品； 以及
* 使货舱、冷藏舱和该船其他载货处所能适宜并安全地收受、运送和保管货物。
在海牙维斯比规则中，“谨慎处理”意味着采取一切合理的预防措施，以确保该船适合执行所预期的航次。承运人没有义务对适航性作出绝对保证，船舶仅仅需要在航行开始时处于适航状态。
如果货物所有人能够证明其损失是由于承运人在开航前以及开航当时未尽谨慎义务使船舶适航而造成的，由此造成的损失属于协会承保范围。然而，如果损失被证明仅仅是由在航程中影响船舶适航的某些事件导致的，假设承运人通过了第三条第一款规定的谨慎处理义务测试，那么根据《海牙-维斯比规则》第三条第一款规定，承运人将不对货物利益方负有责任。
承运人对整个航程适航性的持续保证条款将改变上述情况，此种条款将使得承运人可能对整个航程中影响船舶适航性的任何或所有事件负有责任。相比海牙-维斯比规则条款而言，此种条款对承运人更为不利，由此种条款引起的任何索赔不属于协会承保范围。
因此，协会建议各会员，在订立对整个航程提供适航性持续保证条款时应认真考虑其对保险的可能影响，并且在订立此种条款之前联系协会经理部寻求指导。
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Continuing Warranty of Seaworthiness
The Managers are aware that, from time to time, Members have been offered contractual terms with counterparties that require the shipowner to provide a continuing warranty of seaworthiness for the entire duration of the voyage. Should this situation arise, the Club would urge Members to exercise caution before entering into contract terms since such a warranty could prejudice their P&I cover.
Cover for cargo risks is conditional upon the Member not contracting on terms less favourable than the Hague Visby Rules (HVR). Article III paragraph 1 of the HVR provides that the carrier must, before and at the beginning of the voyage, exercise due diligence to:
* make the ship seaworthy;
* properly man, equip and supply the ship; and
* make the holds, refrigerating and cool chambers, and all other parts of the ship in which goods are carried, fit and safe for their reception, carriage and preservation.
Under the HVR “exercising due diligence” means taking all reasonable precautions to see that the vessel is fit for the voyage contemplated. The carrier is not obliged to give an absolute guarantee of seaworthiness and the ship need only be seaworthy at the commencement of the voyage.
If a cargo owner can show that their loss was caused by a failure of the carrier to exercise due diligence to make the vessel seaworthy before and at the commencement of the voyage, the resulting loss will fall under Club cover. If, however, the loss was shown to have been caused by some event which affected the vessel’s seaworthiness only during the voyage then, assuming the due diligence test in Article III paragraph 1 is passed, the carrier would not be liable to the cargo interests under Article III paragraph 1 of the HVR.
A continuing warranty of seaworthiness throughout the voyage alters that position and would make the carrier potentially liable for any and all events affecting the vessel’s seaworthiness during the entire voyage. This would represent terms less favourable than the HVR and so place any resulting claims outside of Club cover.
Members are therefore advised to give serious consideration to the potential ramifications on cover of contracting on terms that give a continuing warranty of seaworthiness and to contact the Managers for guidance before fixing on this basis.
https://www.american-club.com/files/files/cir_39_18.pdf
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