On the morning of 13 October, the Signing Ceremony of the Memorandum of Cooperation jointly hosted by Shanghai Maritime Court and CPI was held at China P&I Centre in Shanghai. President of Shanghai Maritime Court Mr. Wang Tong, Vice President of Shanghai Maritime Court Mr. Huang Songtao, Managing Director of CPI Dr. Song Chunfeng, Deputy Managing Director of CPI Mr. Liu Yutong, and Deputy Managing Director of CPI Mr. Gong Xiqian attended the event and witnessed the signing ceremony. The event was hosted by Mr. Gong Xiqian.

Dr. Song Chunfeng expressed his appreciation for the professionalism and innovativeness of the Shanghai Maritime Court. The Memorandum of Cooperation will improve the legalization of shipping, he said in the speech, and he expects the results of cooperation to be successful experiences that can be scaled up in order to better protect the legitimate rights and interests, while at the same time bring more benefits to our members. Furthermore, both parties will make positive contributions to establish Shanghai as a preferred place for shipping dispute resolution with high international influence.

Mr. Wang Tong appreciated CPI’s continued support to the Shanghai Maritime Court. 2020 is the year of completion of the Shanghai International Shipping Centre, he said, and the signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation is a significant initiative for improving high-end shipping service and promoting the new round of construction of the Shanghai International Shipping Centre. He hopes that both parties will continue to deepen cooperation and make joint contributions to the full establishment of the Shanghai International Shipping Centre.

Shortly afterwards, Vice President of Shanghai Maritime Court Mr. Huang Songtao and Deputy Managing Director of CPI Mr. Liu Yutong represented each party to sign the Memorandum of Cooperation.

According to the Memorandum of Cooperation, both parties will coordinate to improve the preservation and enforcement of maritime litigation, facilitate the development of the international maritime judicial center, and build a maritime communication and cooperation platform. It is an innovative initiative for the Shanghai Maritime Court to approve pre-security for arrest of ships. To avoid physical arrestment, Shanghai Maritime Court will accept the CPI’s pre-security for the release of ships for particular ships and maritime claims, for a particular time, and within a certain amount. As agreed in the memorandum, Shanghai Maritime Court will confirm with CPI whether to issue security simultaneously for the release of vessels entered into CPI or those ships that Shanghai P&I Services Ltd. acts as correspondent before physical arrest of ships and after deciding to arrest them. CPI’s security will synchronize with release of ships in real time, which avoids previous situations when members can only start release procedures after ships have been physically arrested in port, which may severely impact the operation of ships. Additionally, the initiative will enable members to release the ships with gap-free and zero-time-difference ship release service.