Company: CMRE-PC
Filing Date: 2025-02-20
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0001140361-25-005199
Chunk: 28

Company: Costamare Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-02-20
Form: 20-F
Item: Item 3
Chunk 28
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 China. Additionally, many of our vessels regularly call to ports in China, and as of February 12, 2025, we have chartered nine of our containerships with Chinese charterers, while two of our dry bulk vessels was chartered with Chinese charterers. As of the same date, we have entered into sale and leaseback transactions in respect of 10 containerships with certain Chinese financial institutions. In 2022, we served notices of termination for eight newbuild vessels on order at a Chinese shipyard due to default by the shipyard. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Our Fleet—Our Containership Fleet”.
 

The Chinese legal system is based on written statutes and their legal interpretation by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. Prior court decisions may be cited for reference but have limited precedential value. Since 1979, the Chinese government has been developing a comprehensive system of commercial laws, and considerable progress has been made in introducing laws and regulations dealing with economic matters such as foreign investment, corporate organization and governance, commerce, taxation and trade. However, because these laws and regulations are relatively new, there is a general lack of internal guidelines or authoritative interpretive guidance, and because of the limited number of published cases and their non-binding nature, interpretation and enforcement of these laws and regulations involve uncertainties. Although the related charters, shipbuilding agreements and sale and leaseback agreements are governed by English law, we may have difficulties enforcing a judgment rendered by an arbitration tribunal or by an English court (or other non-Chinese court) in China. Such charters, shipbuilding agreements and sale and leaseback agreements, and any additional agreements that we enter into with Chinese counterparties, may be subject to new regulations in China that may require us to incur new or additional compliance or other administrative costs and pay new taxes or other fees to the Chinese government. In addition, China enacted a tax for non-resident international transportation enterprises engaged in the provision of services to passengers or cargo, among other items, in and out of China using their own, chartered or leased vessels, including any stevedore, warehousing and other services connected with the transportation. The law and relevant regulations broaden the range of international transportation companies which may find themselves liable for Chinese enterprise income tax on profits generated from international transportation services passing through Chinese ports. This tax or similar regulations by China may reduce our operating results and may also result in an increase in the cost of goods exported from China and the risks