The long-standing concept of risk management in the financial sector has attracted more attention after the financial crisis of 2007–2008. In the context of ship finance, marine insurance has proven itself to be an effective tool to transfer certain shipping risks to insurers who are not directly involved in the ship finance projects. This thesis provides original suggestions concerning the role of marine insurance in ship finance, combining a financial perspective, an insurance perspective and a legal perspective. Marine insurance is a key risk management technique that fits into the general risk management process adopted by ship financiers. However, it is not necessarily the most appropriate technique in every particular case due to its limitations and costs. As a result, insurance gaps are identified to assist financiers in optimising the use of marine insurance and to help insurers to spot business opportunities. Marine insurance is a contract which is to be governed by and construed in accordance with the law. At the same time, marine insurance is a contract rather than a guarantee: if something goes wrong in the ship finance package and there is a marine policy, it should not be assumed that the policy represents money in the bank. Things can go wrong under the policy: apart from the legal risks relating to claims under the policy, the law itself may be a risk. In the context of ship finance, the risk transfer is not the only role of marine insurance. Other roles include, inter alia, reducing capital costs, improving the liquidity of shipowners and shipbuilders, and providing peace of mind for ship financiers. Nevertheless, such roles can only be created and sustained if the insurance contracts are carefully drafted and the legal risks are properly managed. The intention has been to state the law as it stands on October 28, 2017.

The purpose of this dissertation is to study on the Chinese, American, British, Korean, Japanese and international ship finance regimes on a comparative basis. The first part of the dissertation introduces various shipping finance sources. The second part of the dissertation focuses on analysis of the loan agreement, security documents and other related legal documentation and their principal clauses as well as implications to the shipping finance practice. The author then researches on the ship lease financing in China, Coastwise Trade Endorsement and Jones Act Sale Leaseback in the United States, Tax Lease regime in the UK and government finance models in Japan and Korea. The author also compares the ship mortgage regimes in China, the United States, Liberia and the Marshall Islands, and illustrates practices and legal issues in connection with ship construction, sale and purchase and classification society. In the final part of the dissertation, the authors proposes alternatives and improvements for Chinese shipping finance and advantages of the U.S., Japanese and Korean regimes which China could learn from. / acase@tulane.edu