China Maritime Collision, Salvage and General Average Claims

Introduction

Collision, salvage and general average are the three maritime claims that most often catch a shipowner or cargo interest by surprise, because they all arise from a single casualty and each runs on its own rules. China's Maritime Code was revised on 28 October 2025 and takes effect on 1 May 2026, expanding from 15 chapters and 278 articles to 16 chapters and 310 articles. The chapter names survived the revision, but the article numbers moved, so any advice or pleading that cites the old numbers is now wrong. This note uses the revised numbers.

Collision: apportionment under the revised Code

The collision provisions sit in Chapter 8. Article 174 defines a ship collision as an accident arising from contact between sea-going ships or between such ships and other non-military, non-government vessels in sea or sea-connected navigable waters, and the chapter applies to damage to ships, cargo and persons on board. The key liability rule is Article 178: where the fault is mutual, each ship is liable in proportion to the degree of its fault; where the degrees cannot be determined, liability is borne equally. For third-party property damage, each ship is liable only up to its own proportion. For personal injury or death, however, the ships are jointly and severally liable, and a ship that pays more than its share may recover the excess from the other fault-bearing ship, with a recourse period of one year running from the date of the joint payment. Article 179 extends the chapter by analogy to indirect collision — damage caused without contact, such as wash damage.

Salvage: no cure, no pay, with an environmental carve-out

Salvage is governed by Chapter 9 (Articles 180 to 201). The organising principle is Article 188, the familiar "no cure, no pay" rule: a salvor earns a reward only if the salvage operation produces a useful result, subject to the special-compensation exception for environmental salvage. Article 189 lists the factors a court or tribunal weighs in fixing the reward — including the skill and effort used, the salved value, and the effort made to prevent or minimise damage to the environment — and caps the reward at the value of the property salved. A salvage contract may be made by agreement without any required written form, under Article 184, and Article 185 allows a contract to be set aside or modified where it was induced by fraud or undue influence, or where the agreed reward is manifestly disproportionate to the service rendered.

The environmental dimension is Article 191. Where a salvor has carried out operations in respect of a ship that threatened damage to the environment and the reward would be less than the salvor's expenses, the salvor may recover a special compensation from the shipowner equivalent to those expenses; where the operations actually prevented or minimised environmental damage, that compensation may be increased, and the increase may be as much as 30% of the expenses, or more if a court or tribunal sees fit, subject to the statutory ceiling. Salvage claims also enjoy a maritime lien under Article 22, which gives the salvor a priority position that matters enormously when the ship is arrested or sold.

General average: contract rules first, then the Code

General average is governed by Chapter 10 (Articles 202 to 212). Article 202 defines it as the extraordinary sacrifice or expenditure intentionally and reasonably made for the common safety when a ship, cargo and other property face a common danger on a common maritime adventure, and it expressly excludes indirect losses such as delay and — a change in the revised Code — losses caused by the escape of pollutants. The adjustment mechanics are in Article 212: the parties may agree on the applicable adjustment rules, and only where the contract is silent do the Code's own provisions govern. In practice, most bills of lading and charterparties incorporate the York-Antwerp Rules (commonly the 2016 edition), so the adjustment is usually run under those rules rather than the Code. Article 206 preserves the right of contribution even where the common danger was caused by a party's fault, while reserving the other party's right to claim compensation for that fault — a rule that keeps the adjustment and the liability question separate.

Limitation of liability

The tonnage-limitation regime sits in Chapter 11. Article 217 excludes certain claims from limitation, including salvage claims and — newly — claims for the removal or clearance of sunken or wrecked ships. Article 219 sets the tonnage-based limits of liability, which the 2026 revision raises substantially and unifies as between sea-going and inland vessels and as between international and domestic carriage; the specific amounts are expressed in Special Drawing Rights and should be read directly from the current text of Article 219 when relied upon. For cargo claims, the per-package limitation under Article 57 remains 666.67 SDR per package or unit, or 2 SDR per kilogram of gross weight, whichever is higher — the familiar Hague-Visby ceiling, unchanged in substance.

Time bars

The limitation periods moved into Chapter 14. A collision claim is barred after two years from the date of the casualty under Article 288. A salvage claim is barred after two years from the date the salvage operation is terminated under Article 289. A general-average claim is barred after one year from the date the adjustment is completed, subject to a new outer limit of six years from the date the common maritime adventure terminates under Article 290. Cargo claims against the carrier remain subject to the one-year period under Article 284. These periods are short and unforgiving, and the notice requirements for cargo damage — seven days for non-containerised goods and fifteen days for containerised goods under the revised Code — run even faster.

Practical checklist

• Identify the claim correctly — collision, salvage or general average — because the burden, the priority and the time bar are different for each.
• Cite the revised 2025 Code article numbers (Articles 174, 178, 188, 189, 191, 202, 212, 217, 219, 57, 288, 289, 290 and 284), never the pre-2026 numbers.
• Secure the claim early: a salvage claim enjoys a maritime lien and a collision claim may justify an arrest, while a general-average contribution can be secured against cargo.
• Read the specific limitation figures directly from Article 219 before relying on them, and treat the adjustment rules as a contract question first.
• Calendar the short time bars and the cargo notice deadlines from the day of the casualty.