On 6 January 2018, a fatal collision occurred between M/T “Sanchi” operated by National Iranian Tanker Company (“NITC”), and the Hong Kong registered cargo vessel M/V “CF Crystal”. “Sanchi” exploded immediately upon collision and kept burning for nearly 2 weeks. She eventually sank despite of multinational tremendous efforts in rescue and none of her 32 crews survived. The accident was reported as the most tragic in shipping history. WJNCO represented Owners and the Club of M/V “CF Crystal” to deal with various legal disputes and a series of lawsuits arising from the accident, including establishment of limitation fund of liability for maritime claims in China and claims for collision damage, personal injury, cargo losses, wreck removal, salvage remunerations and pollution damage, etc. Total claim amounts have exceeded  CNY 10 billion. The accident has assembled all key elements under maritime law whilst parallel proceedings in Hong Kong and unpredictable influence by US sanctions against Iran shall also be taken into account.

In February 2010, a Hong Kong bank concluded a loan agreement with Five Stars Beijing Shipping Co., Ltd. (“Five Stars”). Although Five Star made all repayments as scheduled, it did not follow the other guarantee conditions in the agreement. The Hong Kong bank applied appointed WJNCO for arrest of the Hong Kong bulk carrier M/V “Five Stars Beijing” owned by Five Stars before Ningbo Maritime Court and filed a lawsuit for acceleration of maturity, exercise the right to ship mortgage claim joint and several liabilities against Five Star and the guarantor. WJNCO successfully proved before the court that the applicable law was Hong Kong law by having the court admit expert opinions from Hong Kong law scholars in both the first and the second instance. The ultimate judgments were rendered on basis of Hong Kong law, affirming our client’s claims. The client’s loss was fully recovered when “Five Stars Beijing” was auctioned by court at the price of RMB 158 million.

In September 2007, M/V “De Yue” owned by Guangzhou Salvage Bureau was commissioned by a Shanghai shipping company to tow a scrap floating barge “Mu Lan”. During the towage, “Mu Lan” suddenly ruptured and sank. Her owner then claimed against Guangzhou Salvage Bureau for loss of “Mu Lan” in total amount of around RMB 36 million. WJNCO were appointed by Guangzhou Salvage Bureau to handle this case encompassed with both complicated technical and legal issues, including ascertainment of accident cause, seaworthiness of “Mu Lan”, suitableness of measures taken by the towing vessel, limitation of liability, etc. Based on our rich experiences and extensive network with capability of overall control of complicated cases, we involved technical and legal experts to thoroughly illustrated difficult issues such as likely accident cause, legal position of the owner of “De Yue”, etc. and eventually had our arguments fully upheld by the Court after the first and second instance trials. This case fully elaborated and clarified the legal status of a towing contractor and was of great reference value for future similar cases. It has therefore been selected by the Judicial Research Center of PRC Supreme Court as one of the typical cases for Belt and Road Initiative.