On the morning of 26 February 2018, Haikou Maritime Court received a litigant in a case of dispute over damage caused by a ship collision. He came all the way from Lingao County to present us a pennant in appreciation of our impartiality in law enforcement and our dedication to serving the people.

On the night of 2 October 2015, the wooden fishing boat, “Qiong Lin Gao 11XX”, owned by the plaintiff, Lin, collided with a steel dry-cargo ship owned by a Guangzhou shipping company in Sanya fishing areas. As a result of the accident, the plaintiff’s fishing boat sustained damage in multiple areas. The maritime safety administration conducted an investigation and found that both the boat and the ship were at fault and had to respectively assume 50% liability for the accident. The plaintiff held that the ship owned by the defendant did not provide rescue and was suspected of hit-and-run, but the investigation conducted by relevant authorities did not confirm this allegation. The plaintiff repeatedly reported and complained to relevant authorities that the defendant had not paid any compensation for the damage and the plaintiff’s operations were thus seriously affected. On 29 September 2017, the plaintiff brought an action against the defendant before Sanya Division of Haikou Maritime Court.

After entertaining the case, the collegial bench fully studied related documents, made pre-trial preparations, and held a hearing in time. The plaintiff failed to present sufficient and assertive evidence at the hearing. To fully protect the litigants’ lawful rights and interests, the responsible judges immediately visited the Ocean and Fisheries Bureau of Lingao County, where the plaintiff was located, to study the fishing capacity and profit-gaining of similar boats. Another visit was paid to the shipyard to verify the repairs involved in the accident and to collect and gain access to relevant evidence. After fully understanding the facts of the case, the judges started to analyze for both parties the risks involved in the litigation, while drafting a reconciliation plan. They made timely efforts to ease the hostility between the parties and patiently persuaded the plaintiff to allow a reconciliation attempt made by the court in order that the plaintiff could resume operations as soon as possible. To cut down the litigants’ costs of litigation, the responsible judges made multiple long-distance phone calls to facilitate communication and reconciliation. Through our repeated efforts, the defendant was urged to pay the plaintiff a lump sum of CNY 170,000 and the case was settled. With the efforts made by the judges of Sanya Division of Haikou Maritime Court, this dispute which had been dragging on for two years and endlessly consuming the plaintiff’s time and energy was efficiently and successfully resolved. Deeply moved, the plaintiff made the journey to present us a pennant as a token of his appreciation.