PROTOCOL OF 1979 AMENDING THE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION RELATING TOTHE LIMITATION OF THE LIABILITY OF OWNERS OF SEAGOING SHIPS, 1957
PROTOCOL OF 1979 AMENDING THE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION RELATING TOTHE LIMITATION OF THE LIABILITY OF OWNERS OF SEAGOING SHIPS, 1957
Whole document
THE CONTRACTING PARTIES TO THE PRESENT PROTOCOL,
BEING PARTIES to the International Convention relating to the
Limitation of the Liability of Owners of Sea-going Ships, done at Brussels
on October 10, 1957,
HAVE AGREED as follows:
Article I
For the purpose of this Protocol, "Convention" means the International
Convention relating to the Limitation of the Liability of Owners of
Sea-going Ships and its Protocol of signature, done at Brussels on
October 10, 1957.
Article II
1. Article 3, paragraph 1 of the Convention is replaced by the
following:
"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 66.67 units of account for each ton of the
ship's tonnage;
(b) where the occurrence has only given rise to personal
claims an aggregate amount of 206.67 units of account for each ton of the
ship's tonnage;
(c) where the occurrence has given rise both to personal
claims and property claims an aggregate amount of 206.67 units of account
for each ton of the ship's tonnage, of which a first portion amounting to
140 units of account 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 66.67 units of account 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. Article 3. paragraph 6 of the Convention is replaced by the
following:
"6. The unit of account mentioned in paragraph 1 of this Article
is the Special Drawing Right as defined by the International Monetary
Fund. The amounts mentioned in that paragraph shall be converted into the
national currency of the State in which limitation is sought on the basis
of the value of that currency on 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.
The value of the national currency, in terms of the Special Drawing
Rights, of a State which is a member of the International Monetary Fund,
shall be calculated in accordance with the method of valuation applied by
the International Monetary Fund in effect at the date in question for its
operations and transactions. The value of the national currency, in terms
of the Special Drawing Right, of a State which is not a member of the
International Monetary Fund, shall be calculated in a manner determined by
that State. Monetary Fund, shall be calculated in a manner determined by
that State.
"7. Nevertheless, a State which is not a member of the
International Monetary Fund and whose law does not permit the application
of the provisions of the paragraph 6 of this Article may, at the time of
ratification of the Protocol of 1979 or accession thereto or at any time
thereafter, declare that the limits of liability provided for in this
Convention to be applied in its territory shall be fixed as follows:
(a) in respect of paragraph 1, (a) of this Article, 1000
monetary units;
(b) in respect of paragraph 1, (b) of this Article, 3100
monetary units;
(c) in respect of paragraph 1, (c) of this Article, 3100, 2100
and 1000 monetary units, respectively.
The monetary unit referred to in this paragraph corresponds to 65.5
milligrams of gold of millesimal fineness 900. The conversion of the
amounts specified in this paragraph into the national currency shall be
made according to the law of the State concerned.
"8. The calculation mentioned in the last sentence of paragraph 6
of this Article and the conversion mentioned in paragraph 7 of this
Article shall be made in such a manner as to express in the national
currency of the State as far as possible the same real value for the
amounts in paragraph 1 of this Article as is expressed there in units of
account. States shall communicate to the depositary the manner of
calculation pursuant to paragraph 6 of this Article or the result of the
conversion in paragraph 7 of this Article, as the case may be, when
depositing an instrument of ratification of the Protocol of 1979 or of
accession thereto or when availing themselves of the option provided for
in paragraph 7 of this Article and whenever there is a change in either."
3. Article 3, paragraph 7 of the Convention shall be renumbered
Article 3, paragraph 9.
Article III
This Protocol shall be open for signature by the States which have
signed the Convention or which are Parties thereto.
Article IV
1. This Protocol shall be ratified.
2. Ratification of this Protocol by any State which is not a Party to
the Convention shall have the effect of ratification of the Convention.
3. The instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Belgian
Government.
Article V
1. States not referred to in Article III may accede to this Protocol.
2. Accession to this Protocol shall have the effect of accession to
the Convention.
3. The instruments of accession shall be deposited with the Belgian
Government.
Article VI
1. This Protocol shall come into force three months after the date of
the deposit of six instruments of ratification or accession.
2. For each State which ratifies this Protocol or accedes thereto
after the sixth deposit, this Protocol shall come into force three months
after the deposit of its instrument of ratification or accession.
Article VII
1. Any Contracting Party may denounce this Protocol by notification to
the Belgian Government.
2. The denunciation shall take effect one year after the date on which
the notification has been received by the Belgian Government.
Article VIII
1. Each State may at the time of signature, ratification or accession
or at any time thereafter declare by written notification to the Belgian
Government which among the territories for whose international relations
it is responsible, are those to which the present Protocol applies. The
Protocol shall three 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 the Protocol
in respect of such State.
2. This extension also shall apply to the Convention if the latter is
not yet applicable to these territories.
3. Any Contracting Party which has made a declaration under paragraph
(1) of this Article may at any time thereafter declare by notification
given to the Belgian Government that the Protocol shall cease to extend to
such territories. This denunciation shall take effect one year after the
date on which notification thereof has been received by the Belgian
Government.
Article IX
The Belgian Government shall notify the signatory and acceding States
of the following:
1. the signature, ratifications and accessions received in accordance
with Article III, IV and V.
2. the date on which the present Protocol will come into force in
accordance with Article VI.
3. the notifications with regard to the territorial application in
accordance with Article VIII.
4. the declarations and communications made in accordance with Article
II.
5. the denunciations received in accordance with Article VII.
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