Which laws will be applied to the mortgage right of a ship?
Chinese Maritime Law as lex specialis shall be primarily applied to ship mortgage and Chinese Guarantee Law as lex generalis will be applied to ship mortgage when Chinese Maritime Law does not have specific provisions (Article 95 of Chinese Guarantee Law). For example, the Chinese Maritime Code does not have provisions with respect to the maximum amount that can be secured by ship mortgage. That does not mean that a ship can be mortgaged to secure performance of any amount of debts because Chinese Guarantee Law provides that the debts secured by the mortgages shall not exceed the value of the subject matter of the mortgage. Where the debt amount secured by the mortgage is less than the value of the subject matter mortgaged, the surplus part may be mortgaged one more time (Article 35 of Chinese Guarantee Law).
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