【BIMCO 条款】新冠肺炎的相关法律实践
Overview 简介
BIMCO has received numerous enquiries from members uncertain about how the Novel Coronavirus outbreak will impact contracts. The following includes some general remarks, but it is important to evaluate carefully each situation on its own merits.
鉴于当前新冠肺炎形势，BIMCO已经收到许多会员公司咨询，他们不确定新的新冠病毒爆发将如何影响合同。以下是一些一般解释，重要的是要仔细结合合同自身并进行判断。
Regarding voyage charter parties, the charterers must, as a starting point, have the cargo ready for shipment as agreed. In the event the cargo is not ready, it will depend on the contractual terms who will bear this risk. Contracts often contain clauses, sometimes in the form of riders, which regulate responsibilities and delays, for example, in the form of a general exceptions clauses or force majeure clauses.
关于航次租船合同，承租人首先必须按约定交付待运货物。如果货物尚未备妥，谁承担这种风险将根据合同条款约定。合同通常包含相应条款，有时以附加条款的形式约定责任和迟延，例如，约定于一般除外条款或不可抗力条款。
不可抗力Force majeureu
In respect of force majeure clauses, it is important to note that if the contract is governed by English law, a force majeure event will only have the meaning it has been given in the contract. This is because English law does not recognise force majeure as a freestanding legal concept. Under other jurisdictions, mainly those based on civil law, force majeure exists as part of the underlying law. It should also be noted that even if the shippers or other parties on the cargo side can invoke force majeure against the charterers under the sales contract, this does not necessarily mean that the charterers have the same right under the governing voyage charter party. Unless expressly stated, laytime and demurrage will continue to run during a force majeure event. It is therefore important to scrutinise any applicable exceptions or force majeure clauses to see if they regulate the running of time.
关于不可抗力条款，需要注意的是，如果合同受英国法律管辖，则不可抗力事件仅限于合同约定的含义。这是因为英国法律不承认不可抗力是一个独立的法律概念。在其他主要基于民法的司法辖区，不可抗力作为基础法律的一部分存在。还应指出的是，即使托运人或其他货物权利人可以根据销售合同对承租人援引不可抗力，这并不一定意味着承租人在航次租船合同下享有同样的权利。除非明确约定，否则在不可抗力事件期间，装卸时间和滞期费将继续计算。因此，重要的是要仔细审查任何适用的例外情况或不可抗力条款，看看它们是否规范了相应时间损失。
Arrived ship and laytime船舶靠泊与滞期问题
Another matter to consider is of course if the ship can get to the agreed destination or if, for example, there are quarantine restrictions preventing the ship from becoming an “arrived ship”. In the latter situation, the risk will likely lie with the owners. Generally, we think problems will not necessarily be related to ships being refused in a port but rather to situations where the crew has been to China within a certain period of time and will therefore not be allowed to go ashore. In such situations, the ship may not be prevented from tendering a valid Notice of Readiness to trigger the start of laytime.
另一个需要考虑的问题当然是，船舶是否能够按时抵达约定的目的地，或者，例如，是否存在隔离限制阻止船舶成为“抵港船舶”。在后一种情况下，风险可能由船东承担。一般来说，我们认为问题不一定与船舶在港口被拒有关，而是拒绝之前去过中国的船员上岸。在这种情况下，不得阻止船舶递交有效的准备就绪通知书，以开始计算装卸时间。
Once laytime has commenced it is necessary to look at the express terms of the contract to determine if time will run unaffected by the actual situation at the port of loading or discharge, or, if the parties have agreed on terms which allow the charterers to suspend the running of laytime.
一旦装卸时间开始，有必要查看合同的明确条款，以确定时间是否不受装货港或卸货港实际情况的影响，或者，双方是否就允许承租人暂停装卸时间计算的条款达成一致。
Future fixtures 未来的租船确认书
Concerning negotiations of future fixtures, it is vital to examine all such terms in detail to evaluate the risk of delay and establish how it will be allocated. Several weeks of delay without any possibility to get demurrage will “kill” many business propositions.
就租船确认书的协商，各方必须详细审查所有相关条款，以评估延误的风险，并确定如何进行风险划分。如果延误数周且根本无法要求滞期费，将会“扼杀”业务可能。
We encourage members to study the information currently available related to the relevant ports and countries, and to consider what future impact this may have. The latter is inherently difficult to predict and so it is very important to take a close look at the terms of the contract to clarify how the risk is allocated between the parties.
我们鼓励会员公司对目前公布的有关港口和国家资料进行研究，并考虑可能产生的影响。后者本来就很难预测，因此，仔细研究合同条款以澄清风险划分至关重要。
Under time charter parties, the charterers will generally have assumed the role of the operator and accepted the commercial risks of performing the relevant voyage charter parties. There will, of course, be situations where the owners could be responsible for the time lost if the charterers can bring themselves within the off-hire clause. Another issue could be if the vessel has called at a Chinese port before delivering into a time charter and a delay is caused as a result.
在定期租船合同下，承租人一般作为船舶经营人的角色，承担履行航次租船合同带来的商业风险。当然，在这种情况下，如果承租人能援引停租条款，船东可能要对损失的时间负责。另一个问题可能是，在定期租船合同下，如果船只在交付前停靠过中国港口，则会因此造成延迟交付。
BIMCO Recommendations BIMCO相关法律建议
BIMCO recommends the incorporation of the BIMCO Infectious or Contagious Diseases Clause for Voyage Charter Parties 2015 and the Infectious or Contagious Diseases Clause for Time Charter Parties 2015. Members can view the explanatory notes to both clauses on our website and the following article published two weeks ago is also relevant in this context: Novel Coronavirus outbreak – check your charter party terms
BIMCO建议将BIMCO相应的条款纳入租船合同。会员可以登录我们网站，浏览两个条款的解释性说明，我们也在之前的推送中提及：https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/aFw4Dc6BpyrQljBtIVrROA。
As a final point, some members have asked if the vessel is delayed in the load port can they claim that the contract is frustrated? Frustration is an English law concept which operates automatically to terminate a contract where, after its formation, an unforeseen event occurs which makes further performance impossible, illegal, or something radically different from what was originally contemplated by the parties. Frustration will not apply where the parties have made express provision for the risk event that occurs, for example in a force majeure clause. Whether the event amounts to frustration will be determined by examining the event in the light of the terms and context of the contract. Frustration is very restrictively used and it is highly unlikely that it can be relied upon for delays or financial inconvenience due to the Novel Coronavirus.
最后，有些会员公司问，如果船舶在装货港延误，他们是否可以援引“无法实现合同目的”？“无法实现合同目的”是一个英国法律概念：在合同订立后，发生不可预见的事件使履行合同行为成为不可能、违法行为、或与当事方最初考虑的情况有根本的不同，合同将自动终止。若双方在某一不可抗力条款中为可能发生的风险作出了明确的约定，则不适用无法实现合同目的。事件是否满足“无法实现合同目的”的构成要件将结合合同条款和背景一起进行考虑。无法实现合同目的的援引条件非常严格，基本不可能适用于新冠病毒引起的延误或财产损失。
来源：BIMCO上海@2020.02.12
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