发生在中国渔场的索赔事件

来源：北英保赔协会 

 

      据报道，商船误入养殖区事件大多发生在山东岚山附近。涉及船舶误入养殖区事故的一部分养殖区的存在时间相对较短，当局并未在实地设置明显标示进行警示。当地海事局在官网上发布事故高发养殖区的航行警告和航行通知，但是据了解，很多养殖区并未在中国地图上进行标示。为减少养殖区索赔纠纷，协会通代建议航经或停靠包括岚山在内的养殖区附近港口船舶，在规划路线时充分考虑通函中所提养殖区位置、抵港前与代理确认进入锚地和航路以及养殖区分布、避免夜间停泊、船舶保持适当瞭望并与交管中心和引航站保持密切联系、船长与引航员进行充分沟通以获得主航道的导航方法。

 

      详情请查看协会中国通代发来的以下报告：

 

      请结合我司（华泰通代）之前发布的关于中国岚山养殖区赔案更新进展的多份通函来阅读本文。为帮助客户了解当地现状，以预防此类索赔案件发生，并引起客户对中国其他区域类似索赔的关注，我们（华泰通代）特地制作了本通函。

 

    首先，我司（华泰经纪）注意到2017年我们在中国共处理71起船舶进入养殖区的索赔案件，其中发生在岚山（山东省）的案件数量占总数的一半以上---48起，发生在宁德（福建省）的案件数量位居第二---4起，紧随其后的是上海、山东龙口和山东莱州，各发生3起索赔。以上是我们（华泰通代）仅通过我们处理过的案件进行的分析，统计数据可能不够详尽，但仍然具有代表性，因为华泰通代是十二家国际保赔协会以及世界上大多数其他保赔险保险公司的通代。

为帮助船东深入了解事故多发地区的养殖区现状，最大限度减少误入养殖区的风险，我司当地办公室（青岛华泰以及厦门华泰）对岚山和宁德养殖区索赔情况进行专项调查，现为您做出如下更新：

 

山东岚山养殖区索赔情况

    根据我司记录，中国岚山港附近养殖区在2017年发生了48起索赔事件，其中超过一半的索赔发送在下图A区，约6起发生在下图B区。区域A和B的位置如下所示。

A区是2017年才出现的养殖区，当地海事局和船舶代理对于此区域的信息非常有限，因此该区域未能引起过往船只的足够重视。

 

为了改善现状，保证船舶航行安全，我们（华泰通代）近期与当地海事局、海洋渔业局以及当地渔民村委会进行了进一步调查，现更新情况如下：

 

1. 在2017年底，结合我们（华泰通代）处理的事故情况，我们（华泰通代）发现有一个新的养殖区出现，在上图标记为F区域，坐标如下：

   F1: 35°11’23.43’’N, 119°59’36.03’’E

   F2: 35°10’52.35’’N, 119°59’36.03’’E

   F3: 35°10’52.34’’N, 120°00’54.73’’E

   F4: 35°11’23.43’’N, 120°00’54.74’’E

 

2. 当地政府正计划拆除部分位于港区内阻碍通航的养殖区。根据政府规划，之前通函中提到的D区域属于未来拆除范围之内，但目前还没有拆除其他养殖区的计划。同时，由于拆迁需要大笔资金，到目前为止尚无详细时间表出台。

 

3. 当地海事局在官网上发布事故高发养殖区的航行警告和航行通知，但是除了G区域以外，中国地图或海图上都没有对海事局通知中所提养殖区进行标注。此外，因为部分养殖区远离海岸线且在海事局船舶交通管理覆盖区域之外，海事局无法对经过这些区域的船舶进行实时监控。此外，当局没有在航道附近分散的养殖区周围设置明显警示标志。

 

4. 岚山附近养殖区位于山东和江苏两省交界附近，两省对于各自管辖区域存在一些争议。岚山港附近大部分养殖区位于日照海事局船舶交通管理基线附近，但日照海事局对该区域没有实际管辖权。该区域在行政上归连云港海事局管辖，但其地理位置却距离连云港较远。简而言之，该地区航行安全方面管理工作尚无良好规划。

 

此外，海洋渔业局负责对海域使用和海洋水产养殖进行监管，海事局负责对海上交通和航行安全进行监管。在两个不同主管机构的管理之下，尽管对周边区域航行安全造成了威胁，养殖区还是获批位于航道、航路和锚地附近位置。

 

5. 总体而言，因为当地渔民持有有效的海域使用证以及养殖许可证，所以他们的养殖活动是合法的。然而，在我们（华泰通代）的索赔处理过程中，因为发现某些养殖区在特定时间段内已经发生多起过往船只误入事件，我们通过检索区域内船舶的导航数据，已经成功地驳回了一些渔民的重复索赔请求。

 

值得一提的是，养殖区分布广泛，每个养殖区被划分为若干个小区域，每个小区域的长度超过1000米，宽度超过500米。因此，尽管不同船舶进入同一养殖区是不同步的，但由于船舶进入的地点以及受损范围并不完全相同，这并不意味着同一养殖区在短时间内再次提出的索赔请求是无效和重复的。需要具体情况具体分析。

 

6. 我们（华泰通代）正在与海事局、交通部、海图出版机构等相关机构进行沟通协调，呼吁在海图上对养殖区位置进行标注，以此警示过往船只，避免误入养殖区事故发生。

 

于此同时，为减少养殖区索赔，我们（华泰通代）对停靠或航经岚山港船舶提出以下建议：

 

1. 在航行路线规划阶段，请将通函中所提及的养殖区纳入考虑范围，并请特别注意区域A。此外，在船舶到达岚山港之前，请与当地代理确认进入锚地和港口的航路以及养殖区分布。

 

2. 船舶应保持适当瞭望，并与船舶交通管理中心和引航站保持密切联系。此外，在引航员登轮前，船长不应盲目依照船舶交通管理和引航站推荐的路线。因为船长负责船舶的安全航行，船长应根据现有资料信息，仔细检查周边海域，特别注意前方影响航行的船只（船附近可能有养殖区），然后做出正确决定。

 

3. 如果您有任何疑问，请随时与华泰青岛办事处取得联系。

 

福建宁德市养殖区索赔案件

    可以在宁德港航道以及锚地附近观察到水产养殖场。根据相关信息，外籍船只以及总吨大于50000船舶的主要停靠码头是大唐电厂码头、鼎鑫码头以及张湾码头。船只经东冲口进入三沙湾后，船只可以在通过50000t航道和白马门航道后停泊在大唐电厂码头和鼎鑫码头，或者船舶可以选择通过50000t航道、白匏岛和张湾运营区域后停靠张湾码头。根据过去的现场勘验记录以及卫星地图可知，进出三沙湾的水道被芦笋、海带等水产养殖区包围，部分水道甚至被养殖场占据。

三沙湾地区供外籍船舶和大型船舶使用的主要锚地是东冲口引航/检疫锚地，但该锚地面积较小，且几乎都被小型沿海船舶所占据。在正常情况下，当船舶向当地船舶代理询问锚泊位置时，代理不会提供精确的锚泊位置，相反，代理会建议船舶在东冲口合适位置抛锚，然后向代理和宁德船舶交通管理报告锚位。考虑到东冲口（西洋岛附近）海带养殖区域向深水区逐年扩张，该海域内存在许多套网养殖区，船舶应尽量避免在能见度低的时候或在夜间进入该海域或抛锚。此外，锚泊位置应尽可能远离岸边，船舶应加强对船舶周围海域的监视。

    根据之前案件的现场调查信息，船舶误入水产养殖区位置主要有两个，包括青山岛东航道以及白匏岛附近航道，如上图所示区域A和B。船舶进入水产养殖场的原因如下：

 

    上述两个航道的水流流速高达3 ~ 5节，且航道狭窄，转弯角度大。涨潮或退潮时，由于受潮流影响，舵效较差。

 

    有许多渔业辅助船以及渔船穿越航道，使得船舶避碰空间非常有限。

 

    在主航道周围，甚至在航道的某些地方，都有密集的水产养殖场。因此，如果船舶不能在避开其他船舶后及时返回主航道，就会很容易的进入主航道周围的水产养殖场。

 

为应对这种情况，我们（华泰通代）提出以下建议：

 

l 船舶应于抵港前与当地代理或有关部门确认航道、港口情况，制定合理的航行计划，避免夜间在该区域停泊。

l 引航员登轮后，船长应与引航员进行充分沟通以获得主航道的导航方法，并注意控制航速。

l 进港前，船舶需要在船艏安排瞭望人员，备双锚（把锚放到锚链筒外，与海面垂直，随时准备使用）。

l 如果船舶不可避免地进入水产养殖场区域内，应立即停止发动机，放下双锚来停船，并致电当地代理或主管部门申请协助。

 

    我们希望以上信息能对您有所帮助。如有任何疑问，请随时与我们联系。

 

Reference is made to a series of our previous circulars on fishery farm claims at Lanshan, China, updating the situation and development there. In order to help our clients to understand the current local situation to further prevent claims of this kind and to draw their attention to similar claims in other areas in China, we have prepared this circular.

 

To start with, we note that we have handled overall 71 fishery farm entry claims in China in 2017, among which Lanshan (Shandong province) accounted for over half----48 claims, and Ningde (Fujian province) came second with 4 claims, followed by Shanghai, Longkou (Shandong province) and Laizhou (Shandong province), each having 3. Only being able to analyze the cases we have handled, the statistics may not be exhaustive, but nevertheless representative, since we are listed correspondent for 12 IG Clubs and most of other P&I insurers in the world.

 

 To help owners further understand the current situation and minimize risks of breaking into fishery farms in these accident-prone areas, our local offices (Huatai Qingdao and Huatai Xiamen) have conducted special investigation at Lanshan and Ningde, and would update as follows for your reference.

 

Fishery Farm Claims at Lanshan, Shandong Province  According to our record, in 2017 there have been about 48 accidents of claimed entry into the fishery farms off Lanshan port, China, among which more than half occurred in area A and about 6 accidents occurred in area B. Locations of area A and B are illustrated below.  

 

 Area A was the fishery farm that just appeared since last year, and the information available to the local MSA and the ship’s agent is still very limited, so that it hasn’t drawn sufficient attention from pass-by vessels.  

 

In order to help improve the situation for the sake of safe navigation of the ships, we have recently made further investigations with local MSA, Oceanic and Fishery Bureau, as well as the village committee of the local fish farmers, and hereby update the situation as follows:

 

1. In the end of 2017, it is noted from the accidents we handled that a new fishery farm came into existence, which is marked as Area F in the above map with coordinates as follows:

   F1: 35°11’23.43’’N, 119°59’36.03’’E

   F2: 35°10’52.35’’N, 119°59’36.03’’E

   F3: 35°10’52.34’’N, 120°00’54.73’’E

   F4: 35°11’23.43’’N, 120°00’54.74’’E

 

2. The local government is planning to remove some of the fishery farms located within the port area and obstructing the navigation. Area D mentioned in our previous circular is within the scope to be removed in the future as per the plan, and there is no plan to remove the other fishery farms for now. Meantime, as substantial fund is needed for the removal, no detailed schedule has been made so far.  

 

3. Local MSA published warnings and notices for the accident-prone fishery farms on their website, but none of these fishery farms notified on MSA website was marked on the Chinese charts and/or nautical charts saving for Area G. Furthermore, as some fishery farms are far from the coastline and outside the VTS cover area of MSA, MSA is unable to carry out real time monitoring over the vessels passing by such areas. In addition, there aren’t obvious warning marks around the scattering fishery farms close to the navigation channel.

 

4. The fishery farms off Lanshan are located nearby the boundary of Shandong province and Jiangsu province, and there have been certain disputes between these two provinces over the regions under their respective jurisdiction. Most of the fishery farms off the Lanshan port are near the VTS baseline of Rizhao MSA, but Rizhao MSA has no actual jurisdiction over this area. This area is administratively under the jurisdiction of Lianyungang MSA, but is physically far from Lianyungang. In short, administration on safe navigation in this area is not well organized.  

 

Furthermore, the Oceanic and Fishery Bureau is responsible for supervision of the sea area use and marine aquaculture, and MSA is in charge of supervision of marine traffic and navigation safety. Under two different administration organizations, fishery farms have been approved to be located near the channel, fairway and anchorages, though with threat to navigation safety nearby.  

 

5. Generally speaking, the local fish farmers hold valid Sea Area Use Certificates and Farming Licenses so that their farming activities are legally sound. However, as certain fishery farms were entered by the passing-by vessels for more than once in a certain period, during our claims handling, we have successfully rejected some duplicate claims of the fish farmers by retrieving ships’ navigation data within this area during this period.  

 

It is worth mentioning that the fishery farms are widespread, and each fishery farm is divided into numbers of small areas, with the length of each small area at more than 1000m, and width at more than 500m. Therefore, though different vessels entered into the same fishery farm asynchronously, as the location of entry and damaged scope was not exactly the same, it does not necessarily follow that the second claim brought by the same fishery farm within a short period is invalid and repetitive. Each case needs to be examined carefully.

 

6. We are now discussing and coordinating with the MSA, Ministry of Transport, the chart publishing authority, and some other relevant organizations, urging them to plot the fishery farms on the chart, so as to alert the passing-by vessels to avoid break-in accidents.  

 

 In the meantime, we have the following recommendations to ships calling or passing Lanshan port with view to minimizing fish farm claims:

 

1. In route planning, kindly take into account the fishery farms described in our circulars, with special attention and caution to area A. In addition, before the ship’s arrival at Lanshan port, kindly check with the local agent about the route to enter the anchorage and the port, as well as the distribution of the fishery farms.  

 

2. The vessels shall maintain a proper lookout, and keep close contact with the VTS center and the pilot station. In addition, the Master shall not blindly follow the recommended route of the VTS and pilot station before the pilot attending on board. The Master shall in light of the available information, carefully observe the surrounding sea area, and pay particular attention to the boats ahead affecting the navigation (there might be fishery farms nearby the boats), and then make the correct decision, as the Master shall be responsible for the safe navigation.  

 

3. Should you have any query, please feel free to contact our Qingdao Office:

   Huatai Insurance Agency & Consultant Service Ltd., Qingdao Branch  

Tel: +86 532 8502 1883

   Duty Mobile: +86 186 5328 9883

Email: qingdao@huatai-serv.com

 

Fishery Farm Claims at Ningde, Fujian Province   

Aquiculture farms are observed near Ningde Port channel and anchorage. According to relevant information, the main terminals which the foreign ships and ships ≥DWT 50000 tons may call are the Datang Power Plant Terminal, Dingxin Terminal and Zhangwan Terminal. After the ship enters Sansha Bay via Dongchongkou, the ship may choose to berth at Datang Power Plant and Dingxin Terminal after passing through the 50000t channel and Baimamen, or the ships may choose to berth at Zhangwan Terminal after passing through the 50000t channel, Baipao Island and the channel of Zhangwan operation area. Based on the past site survey records and satellite maps, it can be seen that the relevant waterways entering and leaving the Sansha Bay are surrounded by the asparagus and kelp aquiculture areas, and some part of channels are even occupied by the farms.

 

 The main anchorage of Sansha Bay area for foreign ships and large ships is the pilot/quarantine anchorage which is out of the Dongchongkou, but this anchorage is small and is almost always occupied by small coastal ships. Under normal circumstances, when a ship inquires about anchoring position with the local ship agent, the agent will not give an accurate anchoring position, instead, they will suggest the ship to find a suitable position out of the Dongchongkou to drop anchor, and then report the anchor position to the agent and Ningde VTS. Considering the fact that the kelp culture area of Dongchongkou (near the Xiyang Island) are expanding to the deep water year by year, and there are many set-net fishery farms in this area, the ship should try to avoid entering this area or anchoring during poor visibility or at night. Furthermore, the anchoring position shall be as far as possible from the shore side, and the ship shall strengthen lookout of the waters around the ship.

 

According to site survey of previous cases, ships’ entering into the aquiculture farms mainly occurred at two positions, including the east channel of Qingshan Island and the channel near Baipao Island, as shown in the above map as area A and B. The causes of ships’ entering into aquiculture farms are listed as follows:

 

The current in the aforesaid two channels is strong as high as 3 ~ 5 knots; meantime the channel is narrow and the turning angle is large. During tide rising or ebbing, the rudder effect is poor due to the tidal current.

 

There are many fishery auxiliary boats and fishing boats crossing the channel so that the space for ship avoidance is very limited.

 

There are dense aquiculture farms spreading around the main channel and even in the channel at some parts. Therefore, if the ship fails to return to the main channel timely after avoiding other ships, she can easily enter into the aquiculture farms around the main channel.

 

To cope with the situation, we have following recommendations:   

 

Before arrival at the port, the ship shall be familiar with situation of the channel and port via local agent or authorities, formulate a proper voyage plan and avoid anchoring in this area during night.

 

After pilot is onboard, the master shall fully communicate with the pilot to understand the navigation method of the main channel and pay attention to controlling the ship speed.

 

Before entering the port, the ship shall arrange the lookout at the forecastle, prepare the double anchors (Drop the anchor out of hawse pipe, perpendicular to the water surface, ready for use).

 

If the ship inevitably enters the aquiculture farm, she should immediately stop the engine and drop the double anchors to stop the ship, and call the local agent or authority to apply for assistance.  

 

We hope the above is of assistance. Any query, please feel free to contact us.