ABSTRACT
The maritime system is operated by people, and human errors figure dramatically in casualty situations. When casualties occur in the course of carriage due to master or crew negligence, the results may involve losses of goods, damage to the vessel, loss of freight and sometimes public liability in the case of oil pollution, and even loss of life. The key question in this chapter is who, in the context of carriage by sea, should bear the contractual or tortious liabilities arising from crew negligence. The answers are explored based on a comparative study of English law and Chinese law. The aim of this chapter is to scrutinise the current law regarding the civil liabilities that may be imposed on the crew and the ship, and any defences or limitation of liability that avails to the crew under both jurisdictions at issue. This chapter also deals with civil liabilities including contractual and tortious liability in carriage by sea.
