The Chinese Maritime Code

The Supreme Court of China recently delivered a ruling on the application of Chapter 9 of the Chinese Maritime Code (CMC)¹- dealing mainly with disputes arising out of salvage at sea - to contracts for salvage based on pre-agreed emergency response tariff rates (Pre-agreed Rates Salvage).

Unlike the "no cure, no pay" salvage regime, Pre-agreed Rates Salvage means that when entering into a salvage contract, the shipowners would usually be presented with a published rate sheet showing an hourly tariff rate for labour and daily costs for various pieces of salvage equipment/vessel. There would be a breakdown for each part of the salvage work, and the salvage remuneration would be charged based on the above tariff rates.