There are many pits in the process of foreign trade, especially the novice foreign trade must be small and careful, otherwise the loss is heavy!

Due to the wide scope of application of sea transportation, the weight of the goods that can be shipped, the volume is large, the transportation distance is long, and the cost is relatively low, so it is loved by businessmen all over the world. However, the resulting risks are also greater than those associated with other shipments.

　　1. Risk of maritime disaster

The risk of shipwreck mainly refers to the risks that occur in the course of maritime transport or accompanying maritime transport of ships and goods. It includes natural disasters and accidents. Among them, natural disasters refer to disasters caused by destructive forces caused by the variation of nature. Accidents are accidents caused by unexpected causes.

　　2. Non-artificial external risks

Non-man-made external risks are risks arising from various external causes other than maritime distress. Such risks can be broadly divided into two situations: general external risks and special external risks. Among them, the general external risk refers to the goods in transit due to theft, rain, moisture, heat and other reasons caused by the risk. Special external risks, on the other hand, refer to the risks and losses caused by political, military and national prohibitions and control measures such as wars, strikes and refusal to deliver goods.

In addition, new policies or new controls enacted by certain countries, as well as certain prohibitions by international organizations, may also result in losses resulting from the inability of goods to be exported or imported.

At present, there is no exact definition of maritime fraud in the world. The generally accepted view is that the transportation route, cargo condition, cost and other aspects are artificially deceived and concealed in order to obtain illegal gains and cause losses to innocent parties. The spread and rampant of this kind of behavior has become a major obstacle to international trade and poses a serious threat to the commercial, shipping, insurance and financial industries of various countries.

   Four Risks of Fraud in the Process of Foreign Trade Shipping

　　1. Risk of document fraud

Document fraud, also known as document fraud, refers to the illegal businessman by forging the requirements of the letter of credit in accordance with the requirements of the sea bill of lading, commercial invoices, insurance policies, certificates of origin, quality certificates, commodity inspection certificates, consular invoices and other documents, to settle foreign exchange fraud. It is the most common and dominant form of international maritime fraud.

　　2. Risk of ship fraud

Ship fraud refers to the fraud committed by shipowners using ships, mainly in the form of shipwreck fraud and ghost ship fraud. The most encountered in international trade is ghost ship fraud. Ghost ships are those ships that have a "shadow" status. The owner of a ghost ship is actually a leather bag company, sometimes even set up two days before the start of the operation, and uses a temporary office location. Therefore, the credibility of such shipowners is not high, or even zero. It is very dangerous to let such shipowners transport goods.

　　3. Risk of charterparty fraud

Charter party fraud is a way of using charter party to commit fraud, which can be divided into fixed-term charter party fraud and voyage charter party fraud.

In time charter fraud, fraudsters first register a leather bag company in a remote tax haven and then sign a time charter contract with the shipowner as a charterer. The fraudsters paid the down hire to rent the ship, then renamed the ship and sublet it as the second owner of the ship by way of voyage charter. After loading the goods at the port of shipment, issuing a prepaid bill of lading for the goods, and depositing the prepaid freight received in your account, declare bankruptcy or simply run away.

In the case of voyage charters, the rent is calculated on the basis of the distance of the voyage. The charterer first prepaid the freight to the owner and the goods were loaded smoothly. However, in maritime transport, shipowners demand changes in payment conditions or higher payment standards for various reasons, otherwise the ship will be diverted or transferred to sell the goods in other areas. In order to avoid greater losses, the cargo owner had to accept the shipowner's terms. In international trade, such fraud abounds.

　　4. Fraud risk in marine insurance.

Fraud in marine insurance refers to the act of the insured or beneficiary in the marine insurance business by fictitious insurance subject matter, intentional manufacture, forgery or misrepresentation of insurance accidents, with the intention of obtaining insurance compensation.

　1. Choose the appropriate mode of transport

According to the characteristics of the goods loaded, choose the appropriate transport vessel and transport route, of course, in order to meet the requirements of the contract of sale and other factors, but also to arrange a reasonable shipping time, to discuss the delivery route and other matters.

　　2. Hull inspection

It is necessary to carefully check the safety of the shipping vessel, so that it cannot become a hidden danger of navigation safety; use navigation instruments correctly to ensure scientific escort.

　　3. Skills training, improve professional knowledge

Conduct regular skill training for offshore operators to improve their professional knowledge and ensure correct navigation operations.

　　4. You can choose the appropriate insurance category to insure the goods.

Because maritime fraud has caused great harm, preventing maritime fraud should be a long-term and arduous task. This task is particularly urgent for China, which is strengthening its economic strength and going global. China's foreign trade enterprises should be vigilant against international maritime fraud and actively take preventive and remedial measures. We can start from four aspects:

1. Enhance China's risk awareness of foreign trade enterprises and strengthen the credit investigation of partners.

Before signing a trade contract with a foreign party, it is necessary to investigate in detail its name, form of responsibility, registered capital and the true situation of the legal representative, balance sheet, bank and business reputation. In accordance with international practice, it is also possible to obtain a certificate of credit issued by an authority.

2. Select the appropriate terms of trade, consider the terms of the contract, to prevent the occurrence of loopholes.

To ensure that in the course of the implementation of the contract, the conditions of the performance of the contract are not easily changed. In China's export trade, we should try our best to adopt CIF and CFR conditions, while in import trade, FOB conditions can be used.

In this way, we have the initiative of chartering and booking space, which is conducive to the convergence of ships and cargo and prevents possible fraud in the process of transportation. When it is not possible to obtain the right to charter a ship, the standard of chartering should be strictly formulated in the contract and the corresponding guarantee clause should be added. At the same time, the payment method of the purchase price should be reasonably selected.

3. Select safe ships, strengthen the supervision of loading and unloading, and timely grasp the shipping status of the ship.

To select a shipping company with good credit for the shipment of the goods, when the goods are loaded at the port of shipment, they may send someone to accompany them to verify the condition of the goods and the ship. If there is an abnormal situation, report it to the insurance company immediately and start the investigation as soon as possible.

4. Strengthen the awareness of legal protection and actively take legal remedies.

Warm reminder: Strengthening the awareness of legal protection is not only reflected in reviewing contract terms and eliminating loopholes, but also in actively seeking legal remedies and recovering economic losses after fraud occurs. After the case, the parties should make a claim in a timely manner within the time limit for the claim, and under the arbitration method, they should first try their best to carry out the arbitration institution in our country. Secondly, an international arbitration institution with good performance can be selected for arbitration.