Zhu XX v. Pan XX, a personal injury liability dispute in maritime and sea waters
-- The wharf shall bear the consequences of personal injury caused by its own misconduct in the production activities of the wharf
keyword
- civil
- Liability for personal injury at sea
- Liability for fault
- Be willing to take risks
- Consequences of damages
Basic facts of the case
On the morning of August 13, 2018, Zhu Moumou drove a small truck to Pier 4 of Hengsha Fishing Port, Changxing Island, Chongming District, Shanghai, to unload the cargo from the "Su Jingyu 03502" fishing boat. The pickup truck is parked very close to the edge of the waterfront side of the pier. Zhu Moumou said that there was no cordon on the wharf at that time, and vehicles could be parked at will, and there was no staff on the wharf to inform them that the parking location of the vehicles was unsafe.
At around 8 a.m. that day, the fishing boat was unloaded, and the fishing port management asked the fishing boat to leave the wharf. The surveillance video of the wharf shows that the fishing boat and Zhu's white pickup truck were initially docked opposite each other, and Zhu stood two meters behind the right side of the pickup truck (away from the side of the fishing boat); The fishing boat started to leave the dock, and Zhu Moumou quickly ran from the standing place to the front (which is also the stern of the boat) through the right side of the vehicle, and then fell to the ground about 1 meter in front of the pickup truck. Zhu Moumou was later sent to the hospital for treatment, and Pan Moumou paid 10,000 yuan in advance for treatment. According to the judicial appraisal, Zhu Moumou was injured in this accident and lost more than 25% of the mobility of his right knee joint (less than 50%), constituting a grade 10 disability. When Zhu Moumou was questioned by the public security organs, he said that when he saw the fishing boat moving that day, he thought that the anti-collision tire on the left rear side of the fishing boat might touch the pick-up truck, so he ran to the front of the vehicle to check and call the boatman, and his right leg was hit by the anti-collision tire on the boat and fell to the ground injured.
Zhu Moumou claimed that he was injured by a scrape on a fishing boat leaving port, and that the defendant Pan Moumou was the captain of the ship and should be liable for compensation for the personal injury accident and compensated for the personal injury losses totaling more than RMB 240,000.
Pan argued that Zhu's injuries were caused by his own reasons. Zhu Moumou did not park the vehicle in the safe area of the port, and instead of avoiding the collision tires of the fishing boat and the vehicle when they collided, Pan Moumou should not be held liable.
On October 27, 2020, the Shanghai Maritime Court rendered the (2020) Hu 72 Min Chu No. 852 Civil Judgment: rejecting the plaintiff Zhu's claim. After the first-instance judgment was rendered, neither party appealed. The judgment in this case is now in force.
Reasons for the Adjudication
The effective judgment of the court held that this case was a dispute over liability for personal injury at sea. Zhu Moumou asserted that the ship's conduct constituted a general tort, and should bear the burden of proof on the essential facts constituting a general tort.
In terms of objective constituent elements, there is no causal relationship between the vessel's departure from the wharf and the occurrence of Zhu's personal injury. In terms of the subjective constitutive elements, the ship was not at fault for the occurrence of Zhu's personal injury. The ship's behavior does not constitute a personal injury tort, and the ship's party should not be liable for personal injury compensation to Zhu. It is difficult to say that the actions taken by Zhu Moumou did not take into account his own safety, and Zhu Moumou should bear the corresponding damage consequences caused by it.
Summary of the trial
The vessel left the wharf normally according to the instructions of the wharf owner, and could not foresee the victim's sudden approach and push the boat, and the inertia of the fishing boat was relatively large, and the movement state of the fishing boat was not easy to change, even if the stern officer noticed that the victim was approaching, it could not avoid the contact between the started fishing boat and the victim who trespassed into the dangerous area. The ship's party is not subjectively at fault for the occurrence of the consequences of the victim's personal injury. The shipowner shall not be liable for personal injury.
Associate indexes
Article 120 of the People's Republic of China Civil Code (Article 6, Paragraph 1 of the People's Republic of China Tort Liability Law, which came into force on July 1, 2010)
First instance: Shanghai Maritime Court (2020) Hu 72 Min Chu No. 852 Civil Judgment (October 27, 2020)