Anchor Dragging - Damage to Submarine Cable - Posting of Sec
27.12.2017 |Articles
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On 20 August 2006, “Fortune Pearl” owned by an international shipping company unintentionally entered into the prohibited anchorage area at Haikou Port Qiongzhou Strait, where underwater cables of the military of China have been laid. Since the cables involved sensitive issues like military secrets and lay at a depth of more than 100 meters under the sea, and under the circumstances that the ship interests hadn’t get a clear picture about the location of the anchor and the underwater cables respectively as well as the condition of the possible interweaving of the anchor and underwater cables and that it was impossible for them to make sure that the re-heaving up or abandonment of the anchor due to mis-manoeuvres would not cause damage to the underwater cables, the owners of the cables, Communication Department of Headquarters of Guangzhou Military Area, required Hainan MSA to prohibit “Fortune Pearl” from heaving up or abandoning the anchor or leaving Haikou Port, which would inevitably lead to long-term detention of the ship at the anchorage area and delay of saling schedule.
When there was no result in finding the expert on detecting and salving to investigate and determine the specific locations of the anchor and underwater cables by the ship interests and relevant maritime departments with their utmost efforts, Mr. Huang Yaquan of Huang & Huang Co. Law Firm accepted the appointment from the owners of “Fortune Pearl” and the ship’s P&I Club to handle this case for and on behalf of them. After accepting the appointment, Mr. Huang Yaquan hurried to the scene of the accident to communicate with the surveyor entrusted by the ship interests, their agents and the Master of the Vessel in question to learn about the specific circumstances of the accident; to assist the hydrographic detecting company in the operations of sea sweeping survey and underwater video and photograph survey; and to participate in the negotiations with Hainan MSA and the military. With his perennial case-handling experience and unremitting efforts, Mr. Huang Yaquan successfully persuaded the military into giving up the security they asked for from the ship interests lasting for 23 years in amount of RMB 143.574 million and the claim request for quick payment of RMB15 million. The subject claim was speeded up to be finally amicable-settled on the manner that the ship owners of “Fortune Pearl” and its P&I Club only compensated Communication Department of Headquarters of Guangzhou Military Area in amount of RMB 5 million (about one thirtieth of the security and claim amount demanded by the military) as full and final settlement of all the claims resulting from the alleged damage to underwater cables. The prompt settlement and the result of this case satisfied the ship interests and the ship’s P&I Club.
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