INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION
RELATING TO THE LIMITATION OF THE LIABILITY OF OWNERS OF SEA-GOING SHIPS
(Brussels,
10.X.1957)
The
High Contracting Parties,
Having
recognized the desirability of determining by agreement certain uniform rules
relating to the limitation to the liability of owners of sea-going ships;
Have
decided to conclude a Convention for this purpose, and thereto have agreed as
follows:
1.
The owner of a sea-going ship may limit his liability in accordance with
Article 3 of this Convention in respect of claims arising from any of the
following occurrences, unless the occurrence giving rise to the claim resulted
from the actual fault or privity of the owner:
(a) loss of life of, or
personal injury to, any person being carried in the ship, and loss of, or
damage to, any property on board the ship:
(b) loss of life of, or
personal injury to, any other person, whether on land or on water, loss of or
damage to any other property or infringement of any rights caused by the act,
neglect or default of any person on board the ship for whose act, neglect or
default the owner is responsible or any person not on board the ship for whose
act, neglect or default the owner is responsible; provided however that in
regard to the act, neglect or default of this last class of person, the owner
shall only be entitled to limit his liability when the act, neglect or default
is one which occurs in the navigation or the management of the ship or in the
loading, carriage of discharge of its cargo or in the embarkation, carriage or
disembarkation of its passengers;
(c) any obligation or
liability imposed by any law relating to the removal of wreck and arising from
or in connection with the raising, removal or destruction of any ship which is
sunk, stranded or abandoned (including anything which may be on board such
ship) and any obligation or liability arising out of damage caused to harbour
works, basins and navigable waterways.
2.
In the present Convention the expression "personal claims" means
claims resulting from loss of life and personal injury: the expression
"property claims" means all other claims set out in paragraph 1 of
this Article.
3.
An owner shall be entitled to limit his liability in the cases set out in
paragraph 1 of this Article even in cases where his liability arises, without
proof of negligence on the part of the owner or of persons for whose conduct he
is responsible, by reason of his ownership, possession, custody or control of
the ship.
4.
Nothing in this Article shall apply:
(a) to claims for salvage or
to claims for contribution in general average;
(b) to claims by the Master,
by members of the crew, by any servants of the owner on board the ship or by
servants of the owner whose duties are connected with the ship, including the
claims of their heirs, personal representatives or dependents, if under the law
governing the contract of service between the owner and such servants the owner
is not entitled to limit his liability in respect of such claims or if he is by
such law on permitted to limit his liability to an amount greater than that
provided for in Article 3 of this Convention.
5.
If the owner of a ship is entitled to make a claim against a claimant arising
out of the same occurrence, their respective claims shall be set off against
each other and the provisions of this Convention shall only apply to the
balance, if any.
6.
The question upon whom lies the burden of proving whether or not the occurrence
giving rise to the claim resulted from the actual fault or privity of the owner
shall be determined by the lex fori.
7.
The act of invoking limitation of liability shall not constitute an admission
of liability.
1.
The limit of liability prescribed by Article 3 of this Convention shall apply
to the aggregate of personal claims and property claims which arise on distinct
occasion without regard to any claims which have arisen or may arise on any
other distinct occasion.
2.
Where the aggregate of the claims which arise on any distinct occasion exceeds
the limits of liability provided for by Article 3, the total sum representing
such limits of liability may be constituted as one distinct limitation fund.
3.
The fund thus constituted shall be available only for the payment of claims in
respect of which limitation of liability can be invoked.
4.
After the fund has been constituted, no claimant against the fund shall be
entitled to exercise any right against any other assets of the shipowner in
respect of his claim against the fund, if the limitation fund is actually
available for the benefit of the claimant.
1. The amounts to which the owner of a ship
may limit his liability under Article 1 shall be:
(a) where the occurrence has
only given rise to property claims an aggregate amount of 1.000 francs for each
ton of the ship's tonnage;
(b) where the occurrence has
only given rise to personal claims an aggregate amount of 3.100 francs for each
ton of the ships tonnage;
(c) where the occurrence has
given rise both to personal claims and property claims an aggregate amount of
3,100 francs for each ton of the ship's tonnage, of which a first portion
amounting to 2,100 francs for each ton of the ship's tonnage shall be
exclusively appropriated to the payment of personal claims and of which a
second portion amounting to 1.000 francs for each ton of the ship's tonnage
shall be appropriated to the payment of property claims; provided however that
in cases where the first portion is insufficient to pay the personal claims in
full, the unpaid balance of such claims shall rank rateably with the property
claims for payment against the second portion of the fund.
2.
In each portion of the limitation fund the distribution among the claimants
shall be made in proportion to the amounts of their established claims.
3.
If before the fund is distributed the owner has paid in whole or in part any of
the claims set out in Article 1 paragraph 1 he shall pro tanto be placed in the
same position in relation to the fund as the claimant whose claim he has paid,
but only to the extent that the claimant whose claim he has paid would have had
a right of recovery against him under the national law of the State where the
fund has been constituted.
4.
Where the shipowner establishes that he may at a later date be compelled to pay
in whole or in part any of the claims set out in Article 1 paragraph 1 the
Court or other competent authority of the State where the fund has been
constituted may order that a sufficient sum shall be provisionally set aside to
enable the shipowner at such later date to enforce his claim against the fund
in the manner set out in the preceding paragraph.
5.
For the purpose of ascertaining the limit of an owner's liability in accordance
with the provisions of this article the tonnage of a ship of less than 300 tons
shall be deemed to be 300 tons.
6. The franc mentioned in this article shall
be deemed to refer to a unit consisting of sixty-five and a half milligrams of
gold of millesimal fineness nine hundred. The amounts mentioned in paragraph 1
of this article shall be converted into the national currency of the State in
which limitation is sought on the basis of the value of that currency by
reference to the unit defined above at the date on which the shipowner shall
have constituted the limitation fund, made the payment or given a guarantee
which under the law of that State is equivalent to such payment.
7. For the purpose of this Convention tonnage
shall be calculated as follows:
In
the case of steamships or other mechanically propelled ships there shall be taken
the net tonnage with the addition of the amount deducted from the gross tonnage
on account of engine room space for the purpose of ascertaining the net
tonnage.
In
the case of all other ships there shall be taken the net tonnage.
Without
prejudice to the provisions of Article 3, paragraph 2, of this Convention, the
rules relating to the constitution and distribution of the limitation fund, if
any, and all rules of procedure shall be governed by the national law of the
State in which the fund is constituted.
1.
Whenever a shipowner is entitled to limit his liability under this Convention,
and the ship or another ship or other property in the same ownership has been
arrested within the jurisdiction of a contracting State or bail or other
security has been given to avoid arrest, the Court or other competent authority
of such State may order the release of the ship or other property or of the
security given if it is established that the shipowner has already given
satisfactory bail or security in a sum equal to the full limit of his liability
under this Convention and that the bail or other security so given is actually
available for the benefit of the claimant in accordance with his rights.
2.
Where, in circumstances mentioned in paragraph 1 of this article, bail or other
security has already been given:
(a) at the port where the
accident giving rise to the claim occurred;
(b) at the first port of
call after the accident if the accident did not occur in a port;
(c) at the port of disembarkation
or discharge if the claim is a personal claim or relates to damage to cargo,
the
Court or other competent authority shall order the release of the ship, bail or
other security given, subject to the conditions set forth in paragraph 1 of this
article;
3.
The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 of this article shall apply likewise if
the bail or other security already given is in a sum less than the full limit
of liability under this Convention, provided that satisfactory bail or other
security is given for the balance.
4.
When the shipowner has given bail or other security in a sum equal to the full
limit of his liability under this Convention such bail or other security shall
be available for the payment of all claims arising on a distinct occasion and
in respect of which the shipowner may limit his liability.
5.
Questions of procedure relating to actions brought under the provisions of this
Convention and also the time limit within which such actions shall be brought
or prosecuted shall be decided in accordance with the national law of the
Contracting State in which the action takes place.
1.
In this Convention the liability of the shipowner includes the liability of the
ship herself.
2.
Subject to paragraph 3 of this article, the provisions of this Convention shall
apply to the charterer, manager and operator of the ship, and to the master,
members of the crew and other servants of the owner, charterer, manager or
operator acting in the course of heir employment, in the same way as they apply
to an owner himself: Provided that the total limits of liability of the owner
and all such other persons in respect of personal claims and property claims
arising on a distinct occasion shall not exceed the amounts determined in
accordance with Article 3 of this Convention.
3.
When actions are brought against the master or against members of the crew such
persons may limit their liability even if the occurrence which gives rise to
the claims resulted from the actual fault or privity of one or more of such
persons. If, however, the master or member of the crew is at the same time the
owner, co-owner, charterer, manager or operator of the ship, the provisions of
this paragraph shall only apply where the act, neglect or default in question
is an act, neglect or default committed by the person in question in his
capacity as master or as member of the crew of the ship.
This
Convention shall apply whenever the owner of a ship, or any other person having
by virtue of the provisions of Article 6 hereof the same rights as an owner of
a ship, limits or seeks to limit his liability before the Court of a
Contracting State or seeks to procure the release of a ship or other property
arrested or the bail or other security given within the jurisdiction of any
such State.
Nevertheless,
each Contracting State shall have the right to exclude, wholly or partially,
from the benefits of this Convention any non-Contracting State, or any person
who, at the time when he seeks to limit his liability or to secure the release
of a ship or other property arrested or the bail or other security in
accordance with the provisions of Article 5 hereof, is not ordinarily resident
in a Contracting State, or does not have his principal place of business in a
Contracting State, or any ship in respect of which limitation of liability or
release is sought which does not at the time specified above fly the flag of a
Contracting State.
Each
Contracting State reserves the right to decide what other classes of ship shall
be treated in the same manner as sea-going ships for the purpose of this
Convention.
This
Convention shall be open for signature by the States represented at the tenth
session of the Diplomatic Conference on Maritime Law.
This
Convention shall be ratified and the instruments of ratification shall be
deposited with the Belgian Government which shall notify through diplomatic
channels all signatory and acceding States of their deposit.
1.
This Convention shall come into force six months after the date of deposit of
at least ten instruments of ratification, of which at least five by States that
have each a tonnage equal or superior to one million gross tons of tonnage.
2.
For each signatory State which ratifies the Convention after the date of
deposit of the instrument of ratification determining the coming into force
such as is stipulated in paragraph 1 of this article, this Convention shall
come into force six months after the deposit of their instrument of ratification.
Any
State not represented at the tenth session of the Diplomatic Conference on
Maritime Law may accede to this Convention.
The
instruments of accession shall be deposited with the Belgian Government which
shall inform through diplomatic channels all signatory and acceding States of
the deposit of any such instruments.
The
Convention shall come into force in respect of the acceding State six months
after the date of the deposit of the instrument of accession of that State, but
not before the date of entry into force of the Convention as established by
Article 11, paragraph 1.
Each
High Contracting Party shall have the right to denounce this Convention at any
time after the coming into force thereof in respect of such High Contracting
Party. Nevertheless, this denunciation shall only take effect one year after
the date on which notification thereof has been received by the Belgian
Government which shall inform through diplomatic channels all signatory and
acceding States of such notification.
1.
Any High Contracting Party may at the time of its ratification of or accession
to this Convention or at any time thereafter declare by written notification to
the Belgian Government that the Convention shall extend to any of the
territories for whose international relations in is responsible. The Convention
shall six months after the date of the receipt of such notification by the
Belgian Government extend to the territories named therein, but not before the
date of the coming into force of this Convention in respect of such High
Contracting Party.
2.
Any High Contracting Party which has made a declaration under paragraph 1 of
this article extending the Convention to any territory for whose international
relations it is responsible may at any time thereafter declare by notification
given to the Belgian Government that the Convention shall cease to extend to
such territory. This denunciation shall take effect one year after the date on
which notification thereof has been received by the Belgian Government.
3.
The Belgian Government shall inform through diplomatic channels all signatory
and acceding States of any notification received by it under this article.
Any
High Contracting Party may three years after the coming into force of this
Convention in respect of such High Contracting Party or at any time thereafter
request that a conference be convened in order to consider amendments to this
Convention.