A Study on the Legal Nature of Shipbuilding Contract

Abstract

Traditionally, the nature of shipbuilding contract is regarded as pure sale of goods under English law. According to two English cases, now it appears that it s regarded as a hybrid contract of construction and sale. There s no legal provision concerning the nature of shipbuilding contract directly under Chinese law whereas it seems that Chinese law presuppose that it s a contract for work and there are different solutions in theory and in practice in China. The opinion to define it as a kind of mixture of both work and sales contract is raised as well.

This article is to present an introductory analysis of the legal nature of shipbuilding contract and its implications thereof under different legal systems.