律师对中国新造船合同的案例研究-SeatradeEur

12Lawyer’sCaseStudyonPRCNewbuildingContracts–LessonsLearnedandEmergingTrendsinthePost-GFCWorld律师对中国新造船合同的案例研究–吸取教训和世界金融危机后的发展趋势PeterMurrayPartner,Ince&Co,Shanghai马瑞英士律师事务所上海代表处合伙人1stChinaMaritimeCongressFriday26June2009Shangri-LaHotel,Shanghai第一届中国航运大会2009年6月26日，星期五上海浦东香格里拉大酒店3ShipbuildingContractsPresentChallengesEvenintheMostStableofTimes即使在最稳定的时期，造船合同也面临诸多挑战Agreeingtermsforconstructionofvesselatsomefuturepointintime双方对于某些未来时间点的船舶建造条款进行约定Pricefixedwithcommoditiesandmaterialsfromvarioussourcessubjecttopriceandcurrencyfluctuations合同价格预先确定，但商品、原料及各种其他资源却可能受价格和汇率波动的影响Futurevesselmarketvalueestimatedbothinrelationtohullvalueandearningcapacity船舶未来的市场价值：从船体本身及其盈利能力两方面预估4BuildingaShipinChinaGaveRisetoSpecialChallenges在中国造船产生的特殊挑战Evergrowingnumberofyards不断增长的船厂数量Greenfieldyardswithnotrackrecord没有历史记录的新建船厂Supervision监理Qualityissues质量问题Delaysandtheoccasionalcancellation推迟和时有发生的解除Butinthemaintheproblemswereovercome但是主要的问题都已经克服了5CommonThemesApplicabletoMostShipbuildingContractsinChina对中国绝大多数造船合同都适用的一般原则Contracttermswhichweretriedandtestedwithadhocamendmentsfromtimetotime被试用且经受过考验的合同条款及其不时的修改Rigidintermsofperformanceobligationsbothastopriceandotherobligationstoperform严格的义务履行条款，包括价格和其他义务履行条款Englishlawstilltheprevailinglawputtingthepartiesintoastraitjacketofobligations英国法仍然是常用法律，迫使当事人受义务的约束Forcemajeureclausesbutoflimitedapplication不可抗力条款，但适用受限Ifthetermsdidnotsuit,theonlywaytorenegotiatewastoriskgoingintodefault若条款不合适，重新协商的唯一方法是冒违约的风险6Aswelookbackandforward……fourstages我们回顾并展望……四个阶段1st-Pre-GFCandpre-06/08bubble第一阶段-世界经济危机前和06/08年泡沫期之前2nd-Inthemiddleofthe06/08bubble第二阶段-06/08年泡沫期中期3rd–GFCandtheimmediatefallout第三阶段-世界经济危机及其直接后果4th–NewContractsandlookingforwardto2015第四阶段–新合同并展望2015年71stStage-TheGeneralOperationofShipbuildingContractsPre-GFC&the06/08Bubble第一阶段-金融危机前和06/08年泡沫期之前对造船合同的一般操作Priceadjustmentclauseshardlyexisted几乎不存在价格调整条款Currencyfluctuationclauseswerebeingusedsparingly很少适用汇率波动条款Butveryrarelywasthereasteelpriceadjustmentclause但是在极少数情况下会有钢材价格调整条款Theresultinarisingmarket….行情上涨的市场环境下….Numerousrenegotiationsonpriceanddelivery就价格和交船重新展开的众多谈判81stStage-TheGeneralOperationofShipbuildingContractsPre-GFC&the06/08Bubble第一阶段-金融危机前和06/08年泡沫期之前对造船合同的一般操作Generallytheresultwasanamicablesettlement一般都能获得友好解决WiththeYardreceivingmoremoneyandtheOwnerstakingdeliverysoonerratherthanmuchlater船厂获得更多价款，船东尽快接船Giventhenumberofshipsbuiltanddelivered,veryfewarbitrations鉴于建造和交付船舶的数量，仲裁案件很少Ofthearbitrationscommenced,veryfewtakentoafinalaward已经开始的仲裁，很少进行到最终裁决阶段92ndStage–Pre-GFCbutinthemidstofthe06/08Bubble第二阶段–经济危机前，但处于06/08年泡沫期中期Contractsconcludedatanyprice以任何价格缔结合同Buyersnotbuyingashipbutacontract买方不是买船而是合同Contractualtermsnotalwaysgivenverymuchattention合同条款不是很受关注Shipbuildingcontractsbecamefinancialinstruments造船合同成为融资工具10Resalesbecamethesecondarymarketofshipbuilding转售成为船舶建造的二级市场Aswithderivatives,legalproblemsabounded随着衍生物的出现，出现大量法律问题Prospecttoonsellornovatebecamethemainobjective出售或整体转让合同成为主要目标AtendencyofBuyerstoconcludemorecontractsthanneeded出现了一个趋势：买方签订数量超出其需求的合同2ndStage–Pre-GFCbutinthemidstofthe06/08Bubble第二阶段–经济危机前，但处于06/08年泡沫期中期113rdStage–FalloutfromtheGFC第三阶段-由全球金融危机引起的滑落AsuddendesirebyBuyersnottotakedelivery买方突然不愿意接船ThelongtermC/Pdisappeared难觅长期租约的踪迹Andfinancenolongerpossible融资变得不再可能Foranoverpricedandmarketlessasset船舶成了毫无市场但却价格昂贵的资产Lockedintothecontractbyapaymentguarantee因付款保函而被合同禁锢StraitjacketofEnglishlawunlessloopholescouldbefound英国法对合同义务的严格态度（除非可以发现合同的漏洞）12FalloutfromtheGFC由全球金融危机引起的滑落Bettertofindgroundstocancel希望找到理由解除合同Butcancellationunderthetermsofthecontract但必须根据合同条款解除合同Recoveryofinstalmentsundertherefundguaranteeparamount首要考虑是依据还款保函收回预付款DelaybySellersnolongertoleratedandeverydaycounted不再容忍卖方的延迟交船，每天的迟延都计算违约金Ifnodelaythenlookforothergroundstocancel如果卖方没有迟延，寻找其他理由解除合同Technicaldefects技术缺陷Legaldefects法律缺陷13FalloutfromtheGFC由全球金融危机引起的滑落Desperatetodeliverontime卖方尽力按时交付船舶Keepingacloseeyeonthepaymentguarantee密切留意付款保函Havingtomeetallthedemandsofover-demandingsuperintendents卖方不得不满足船舶监理苛刻的要求144thStage–HasEnglishlawandLondonarbitrationperformedwellpost-GFC?第四阶段-后全球金融危机时期英国法和伦敦仲裁的表现Torepeattheproblem……重复以前出现的问题……Contractagreedfordeliveryoflowvalueassetathighfixedpricewithnoroomtomove订立的造船价格高于实际船舶的价值，但却无法改变Englishlawwelldevelopedinidentifyingbreachesofcontractsanddamagesthatmustbepayable英国法在合同违约的认定和须支付的损害赔偿金额方面发展得较完善Alsoforconsideringnoveldefensessomeofwhicharebelowthebelt–loopholesbeyondthecontemplationoftheparties一些新提出的抗辩欠缺公平性-因为不是立约各方所能预见的Futureeconomiccircumstancesofnorelevance无关未来经济环境154thStage–HasEnglishlawandLondonarbitrationperformedwellpost-GFC?第四阶段-后全球金融危机时期英国法和伦敦仲裁的表现Therehavebeenremediesbuttheyallgotopunishingbreach已有的救济都主要是惩罚违约行为ObtainingsecurityforpotentialarbitrationawardsnowkeepingNewYorklawyersbusyapplyingforRuleBattachments为将来的仲裁裁决获取担保使得美国律师忙于申请RuleB扣押令Butenforcementofverylargearbitrationawardsgoingtobeproblematic但是金额高的仲裁裁决的执行很成问题Liquidationorreconstructionmaybetheonlywayoutforsomecompanies清算或重组可能是有些公司的唯一出路16Aswelookforward……AretherealternativestoEnglishlawandLondonarbitrat