UDK: 656(09)

Yuriy A. Tarasenko - Candidate of Law, senior lecturer of the department of civil law, international private law and civil procedure, Law Institute, Russian University of Transport

Abstract. The contract of sea (river) freight transportation is closely related to the development of trade. Russia (Rus’) was originally formed as a land power state, which had very limited access to the sea. As a result, such an important instrument of trade as maritime transport was legally formed only at the end of the XVIII century, and was associated with the adoption of the Merchant Shipping Charter of 1781. Sea transportation was carried out on the basis of the contract. However, the legal regulation of this agreement in the Charter was extremely inconsistent and unclear. In Russia of that period, there were a few legal institutions necessary for the practical implementation of activities for the commercial freight transportation by sea. Sea transportation is a complex set of legal and actual actions that require regulations. The article has made an attempt to analyze the legal relations arising from the conclusion of the contract of freight transportation by sea and find out its features.

Keywords: contract; freight transportation; Merchant Shipping Charter; commercial law; carrier liability; tort; forfeit; ship hire; crew; force majeure.

References:

1. Keylin, A. D. Morskoye pravo [Maritime Law]/ A. D. Keylin i P. P. Vinogradov ; pod red. A. P. Solodilova. — M. : Vodnyy transport, 1939.
2. Tyupa, V. V. Dogovor perevozki v dorevolyutsionnoy Rossii [Contract of Carriage in Pre-Revolutionary Russia]// Zakon. — 2008. — № 7.
3. Gol'dmershteyn, L. M. Morskoye pravo Rossii, Germanii, Frantsii, Anglii i Shvetsii [Maritime Law of Russia, Germany, France, England and Sweden]. — SPb., 1903.