CARRIER’S LIABILITY EXEMPTED FROM NATURAL DISASTER IN CARRIAGE OF GOODS BY SEA

――Simate Co., Ltd. v. Yangming Shiping Co., Ltd. for dispute over a contract of carriage of goods by sea

    According to Chinese law, natural disaster is force majeure, and its legal components should conform to three elements of force majeure, namely, unforeseen, unavoidable and irresistible. Severe weather conditions may not certainly be deemed as natural disaster. To claim exemption for a natural disaster, the carrier should bear the burden of proof on the occurrence of the natural disaster, the causal relationship between the natural disaster and the consequence of damage, and no fault in the carrier’s acts.