Gaopeng&Partners Tianjin Office,on behalf of Beijing Branch of Ping An Property&Casualty Insurance Company of China,Ltd(plaintiff,hereinafter referred to as“Ping An Property&Casualty Insurance Company”),won the case on the dispute over insurance subrogation for carriage of goods by waterway against Zhejiang Yonghua Shipping Co.,Ltd.(defendant,hereinafter referred to as“Yonghua Shipping Company”).Lawyer Wang Peng,Partner of Gaopeng&Partners Tianjin Office,and Lawyer Shang Weiwei are agents of this case.

Case highlights:Yonghua Shipping Company,as the Carrier,is responsible for the carriage of methanol cargo for the Shipper(Insured)ENN Energy Supply Chain Co.,Ltd.(hereinafter referred to as“ENN”).The cargo then was claimed for loss.As the Insurer,Ping An Property&Casualty Insurance Company gained the subrogation right from Yonghua Shipping Company after it completed the settlement of claims to ENN.The dispute over the case lies in whether Yonghua Shipping Company was responsible for the cargo damage and what the scope and basis of the compensation are.In response to the focuses of the dispute,the court held that:(1)according to the investigation and the evidence provided by both parties,the cargo was contaminated during the transportation since the Carrier had not clean the shipundefineds holds thoroughly,which was the responsibility of the Carrier.The custody of the goods is the basic obligation of the carrier.Washing and inspection are the necessary preparatory work for fulfilling the above obligations which cannot be exempted or transferred due to non-statutory reasons.Therefore,Yonghua Shipping Company has no right to claim exemption from liability on the grounds of situation where Ping An Property&Casualty Insurance Company did not inspect the shipundefineds holds;(2)according to the relevant provisions of the Contract Law,if one party causes losses to the other party due to the breach of contract,the compensation for losses includes the direct losses and the foreseeable expected profits.The compensation amount claimed by Ping An Property&Casualty Insurance Company,the party with the subrogation right,does not exceed the amount of the actual losses of ENN,the Insured.Therefore,the court recognizes it.

(This article is translated by software translator for reference only.)