Protocol of 1996 to amend the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims of 19 November 1976

(London, 2 May 1996)

THE PARTIES TO THE PRESENT PROTOCOL,

CONSIDERING that it is desirable to amend the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims, done at London on 19 November 1976, to provide for enhanced compensation and to establish a simplified procedure for updating the limitation amounts,

HAVE AGREED as follows:

Article 1

For the purposes of this Protocol:

1. "Convention" means the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims, 1976.

2. "Organization" means the International Maritime Organization.

3. "Secretary-General" means the Secretary-General of the Organization.

Article 2

Article 3, subparagraph (a) of the Convention is replaced by the following text:

(a) claims for salvage, including, if applicable, any claim for special compensation under Article 14 of the International Convention on Salvage 1989, as amended, or contribution in general average;

Article 3

Article 6, paragraph 1 of the Convention is replaced by the following text:

1. The limits of liability for claims other than those mentioned in Article 7, arising on any distinct occasion, shall be calculated as follows:

(a) in respect of claims for loss of life or personal injury,

(i) 2 million Units of Account for a ship with a tonnage not exceeding 2,000 tons,

(ii) for a ship with a tonnage in excess thereof, the following amount in addition to that mentioned in (i):

for each ton from 2,001 to 30,000 tons, 800 Units of Account;

for each ton from 30,001 to 70,000 tons, 600 Units of Account; and

for each ton in excess of 70,000 tons, 400 Units of Account,

(b) in respect of any other claims,

(i) 1 million Units of Account for a ship with a tonnage not exceeding 2,000 tons,

(ii) for a ship with a tonnage in excess thereof, the following amount in addition to that mentioned in (i):

for each ton from 2,001 to 30,000 tons, 400 Units of Account;

for each ton from 30,001 to 70,000 tons, 300 Units of Account; and

for each ton in excess of 70,000 tons, 200 Units of Account.

Article 4

Article 7, paragraph 1 of the Convention is replaced by the following text:

1. In respect of claims arising on any distinct occasion for loss of life or personal injury to passengers of a ship, the limit of liability of the shipowner thereof shall be an amount of 175,000 Units of Account multiplied by the number of passengers which the ship is authorized to carry according to the ship's certificate.

Article 5

Article 8, paragraph 2 of the Convention is replaced by the following text:

2. Nevertheless, those States which are not members of the International Monetary Fund and whose law does not permit the application of the provisions of paragraph 1 may, at the time of signature without reservation as to ratification, acceptance or approval or at the time of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession or at any time thereafter, declare that the limits of liability provided for in this Convention to be applied in their territories shall be fixed as follows:

(a) in respect of Article 6, paragraph 1(a), at an amount of

(i) 30 million monetary units for a ship with a tonnage not exceeding 2,000 tons;

(ii) for a ship with a tonnage in excess thereof, the following amount in addition to that mentioned in (i):

for each ton from 2,001 to 30,000 tons, 12,000 monetary units;

for each ton from 30,001 to 70,000 tons, 9,000 monetary units; and

for each ton in excess of 70,000 tons, 6,000 monetary units; and

(b) in respect of Article 6, paragraph 1(b), at an amount of:

(i) 15 million monetary units for a ship with a tonnage not exceeding 2,000 tons;

(ii) for a ship with a tonnage in excess thereof, the following amount in addition to that mentioned in (i):

for each ton from 2,001 to 30,000 tons, 6,000 monetary units;

for each ton from 30,001 to 70,000 tons, 4,500 monetary units; and

for each ton in excess of 70,000 tons, 3,000 monetary units; and

(c) in respect of Article 7, paragraph 1, at an amount of 2,625,000 monetary units multiplied by the number of passengers which the ship is authorized to carry according to its certificate.

Paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 6 apply correspondingly to subparagraphs (a) and (b) of this paragraph.

Article 6

The following text is added as paragraph 3bis in Article 15 of the Convention:

3bis Notwithstanding the limit of liability prescribed in paragraph 1 of Article 7, a State Party may regulate by specific provisions of national law the system of liability to be applied to claims for loss of life or personal injury to passengers of a ship, provided that the limit of liability is not lower than that prescribed in paragraph 1 of Article 7. A State Party which makes use of the option provided for in this paragraph shall inform the Secretary-General of the limits of liability adopted or of the fact that there are none.

Article 7

Article 18, paragraph 1 of the Convention is replaced by the following text:

1. Any State may, at the time of signature, ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, or at any time thereafter, reserve the right:

(a) to exclude the application of Article 2, paragraphs 1(d) and (e);

(b) to exclude claims for damage within the meaning of the International Convention on Liability and Compensation for Damage in Connection with the Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances by Sea, 1996 or of any amendment or protocol thereto.

No other reservations shall be admissible to the substantive provisions of this Convention.

Article 8

Amendment of limits

1. Upon the request of at least one half, but in no case less than six, of the States Parties to this Protocol, any proposal to amend the limits specified in Article 6, paragraph 1, Article 7, paragraph 1 and Article 8, paragraph 2 of the Convention as amended by this Protocol shall be circulated by the Secretary-General to all Members of the Organization and to all Contracting States.

2. Any amendment proposed and circulated as above shall be submitted to the Legal Committee of the Organization (the Legal Committee) for consideration at a date at least six months after the date of its circulation.

3. All Contracting States to the Convention as amended by this Protocol, whether or not Members of the Organization, shall be entitled to participate in the proceedings of the Legal Committee for the consideration and adoption of amendments.

4. Amendments shall be adopted by a two-thirds majority of the Contracting States to the Convention as amended by this Protocol present and voting in the Legal Committee expanded as provided for in paragraph 3, on condition that at least one half of the Contracting States to the Convention as amended by this Protocol shall be present at the time of voting.

5. When acting on a proposal to amend the limits, the Legal Committee shall take into account the experience of incidents and, in particular, the amount of damage resulting therefrom, changes in the monetary values and the effect of the proposed amendment on the cost of insurance.

6. (a) No amendment of the limits under this Article may be considered less than five years from the date on which this Protocol was opened for signature nor less than five years from the date of entry into force of a previous amendment under this Article.

(b) No limit may be increased so as to exceed an amount which corresponds to the limit laid down in the Convention as amended by this Protocol increased by six percent per year calculated on a compound basis from the date on which this Protocol was opened for signature.

(c) No limit may be increased so as to exceed an amount which corresponds to the limit laid down in the Convention as amended by this Protocol multiplied by three.

7. Any amendment adopted in accordance with paragraph 4 shall be notified by the Organization to all Contracting States. The amendment shall be deemed to have been accepted at the end of a period of eighteen months after the date of notification, unless within that period not less than one-fourth of the States that were Contracting States at the time of the adoption of the amendment have communicated to the Secretary-General that they do not accept the amendment, in which case the amendment is rejected and shall have no effect.

8. An amendment deemed to have been accepted in accordance with paragraph 7 shall enter into force eighteen months after its acceptance.

9. All Contracting States shall be bound by the amendment, unless they denounce this Protocol in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 12 at least six months before the amendment enters into force. Such denunciation shall take effect when the amendment enters into force.

10. When an amendment has been adopted but the eighteen-month period for its acceptance has not yet expired, a State which becomes a Contracting State during that period shall be bound by the amendment if it enters into force. A State which becomes a Contracting State after that period shall be bound by an amendment which has been accepted in accordance with paragraph 7. In the cases referred to in this paragraph, a State becomes bound by an amendment when that amendment enters into force, or when this Protocol enters into force for that State, if later.

Article 9

1. The Convention and this Protocol shall, as between the Parties to this Protocol, be read and interpreted together as one single instrument.

2. A State which is Party to this Protocol but not a Party to the Convention shall be bound by the provisions of the Convention as amended by this Protocol in relation to other States Parties hereto, but shall not be bound by the provisions of the Convention in relation to States Parties only to the Convention.

3. The Convention as amended by this Protocol shall apply only to claims arising out of occurrences which take place after the entry into force for each State of this Protocol.

4. Nothing in this Protocol shall affect the obligations of a State which is a Party both to the Convention and to this Protocol with respect to a State which is a Party to the Convention but not a Party to this Protocol.

FINAL CLAUSES

Article 10

Signature, ratification, acceptance, approval and accession

l. This Protocol shall be open for signature at the Headquarters of the Organization from 1 October 1996 to 30 September 1997 by all States.

2. Any State may express its consent to be bound by this Protocol by:

(a) signature without reservation as to ratification, acceptance or approval; or

(b) signature subject to ratification, acceptance or approval followed by ratification, acceptance or approval; or

(c) accession.

3. Ratification, acceptance, approval or accession shall be effected by the deposit of an instrument to that effect with the Secretary-General.

4. Any instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession deposited after the entry into force of an amendment to the Convention as amended by this Protocol shall be deemed to apply to the Convention so amended, as modified by such amendment.

Article 11

Entry into force

1. This Protocol shall enter into force ninety days following the date on which ten States have expressed their consent to be bound by it.

2. For any State which expresses its consent to be bound by this Protocol after the conditions in paragraph 1 for entry into force have been met, this Protocol shall enter into force ninety days following the date of expression of such consent.

Article 12

Denunciation

1. This Protocol may be denounced by any State Party at any time after the date on which it enters into force for that State Party.

2. Denunciation shall be effected by the deposit of an instrument of denunciation with the Secretary-General.

3. A denunciation shall take effect twelve months, or such longer period as may be specified in the instrument of denunciation, after its deposit with the Secretary-General.

4. As between the States Parties to this Protocol, denunciation by any of them of the Convention in accordance with Article 19 thereof shall not be construed in any way as a denunciation of the Convention as amended by this Protocol.

Article 13

Revision and amendment

1. A conference for the purpose of revising or amending this Protocol may be convened by the Organization.

2. The Organization shall convene a conference of Contracting States to this Protocol for revising or amending it at the request of not less than one-third of the Contracting States.

Article 14

Depositary

1. This Protocol and any amendments adopted under Article 8 shall be deposited with the Secretary General.

2. The Secretary-General shall:

(a) inform all States which have signed or acceded to this Protocol of:

(i) each new signature or deposit of an instrument together with the date thereof;

(ii) each declaration and communication under Article 8, paragraph 2 of the Convention as amended by this Protocol, and Article 8, paragraph 4 of the Convention;

(iii) the date of entry into force of this Protocol;

(iv) any proposal to amend limits which has been made in accordance with Article 8, paragraph 1;

(v) any amendment which has been adopted in accordance with Article 8, paragraph 4;

(vi) any amendment deemed to have been accepted under Article 8, paragraph 7, together with the date on which that amendment shall enter into force in accordance with paragraphs 8 and 9 of that Article;

(vii) the deposit of any instrument of denunciation of this Protocol together with the date of the deposit and the date on which it takes effect;

(b) transmit certified true copies of this Protocol to all Signatory States and to all States which accede to this Protocol.

3. As soon as this Protocol enters into force, the text shall be transmitted by the Secretary-General to the Secretariat of the United Nations for registration and publication in accordance with Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations.

Article 15

Languages

This Protocol is established in a single original in the Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish languages, each text being equally authentic

DONE at London this second day of May one thousand nine hundred and ninety-six.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, being duly authorized by their respective Governments for that purpose, have signed this Protocol.