Insurance clauses in maritime shipping contracts

ABSTRACT

This doctoral thesis analyses insurance clauses in maritime transport contracts. This type of contract is governed by Title IV of the Law on Maritime Navigation (“LNM” as abbreviated in Spanish). However, the provisions in this legislation are optional. Contracting parties typically use forms for entering into this type of contract. In addition, most maritime transport is international. This favours the use of forms given the lack of uniform international regulations. Maritime insurance is governed under Title VIII of the LNM, although also in this case the parties are free to choose the applicable law, with English law being chosen most often. In fact, in its preamble, the LNM states: “in the provisions on maritime insurance, set out in Title VIII, for practical reasons, common-law policy templates and clauses were followed but using conceptual moulds more typical of the Spanish legal tradition”. Thus, the problems arising out of maritime insurance do not occur only between the insurer and the insured but also between the parties to the underlying contracts (charterer and charteree, lessor and lessee, etc.). This is precisely the matter tackled in this thesis. Because although, as mentioned above, Spanish law governs shipping contracts and maritime insurance, it makes hardly any reference to the relationships between the parties of maritime contracts with regard to insurance, and these pose both practical and theoretical problems.