درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

As one of the most popular means of trade in the world, shipping by sea has always been subject to maritime hazards. Thus, the implicit commitment of a ship lease contract is that the transport operator provides a seaworthy ship. There is, however, no specific definition of the legal nature of this obligation in most conventions or international laws, and it is only in this regard that the statement of seaworthiness is cited as an implied obligation. Having been written in the descriptive-analytical method, this study attempts to explain the legal nature of this obligation, its position among absolutes or relatives, primaries or subsidiaries, implicit fundamentals or customs, its compliance with the conditions of article 234, the burden of proving seaworthiness, and the lack of performance guarantees caused by its absence. According to the results of the study, a transport operator is under a relative obligation to provide a seaworthy vessel. The existence of this obligation can be mentioned both as a main condition and a secondary condition, and if there is no specification in the contract, it is referred to as a customary implied obligation. Additionally, the condition of seaworthiness would be close to the verb condition in accordance with Article 234 of the Civil Code of Iran. For a claimant (the owner of the goods) to prove a lack of seaworthiness, they only need to provide evidence that the loss has occurred. For the sea transport operator to be relieved of responsibility, s/he must prove that s/he took the necessary precautions at the start of the voyage. The owner, otherwise, is responsible for compensating the victim for the damages caused by the violation of unseaworthiness by restoring the previous situation by providing the property and if an excuse is provided, by supplying a substitute.

The seabed chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea is an authority for dispute settlement in seabed area cases. This chamber, in nature, is a specific judiciary for dispute resolution of this marine area in the tribunal. First, the governments must settle their disputes based on one of the peaceful resolution methods, and then should refer to the tribunal in case of agreement. Compared to the International Court of Justice in referring to dispute settlement, the most important feature of the tribunal and its chamber is the creation of a specific chamber and dispute settlement through arbitration and the presence of a special judge for dispute parties. Moreover, the seabed chamber can issue an advisory opinion, if required. Therefore, the jurisdiction of the chamber depends on two kinds of optional and compulsory jurisdictions of the tribunal, so that contractors and their guaranteeing states have joint liability for international seabed authority. It should be noted that states are responsible for an action and omission of the act causing harm in the seabed and under the seabed only in case of failure to apply their regulatory advice for contractors. The first and most important compensation for harm to the seabed is prevention from more hazards against seabed and under the seabed. Furthermore, immediate notification to coastal authorities and states, postliminium (restoration of the status formerly possessed), and complete compensation are forms of respective actions.