The 2002 Protocol constitutes an update to the 1974 convention, which established liability for damage suffered by passengers carried on a seagoing vessel, and which parties to the 2002 are required to denounce before joining.
The 2002 protocol raises the lower limit for Carrier liability to 250,000 Special Drawing Rights (SDR) from 1974’s 46,666 SDR. Carriers are required to pay this minimum liability unless it can be proven that the incident was intentionally caused by a third party, or resulted from an act of war, hostilities, civil war, insurrection or force majeure.
Meanwhile, liability for the loss of or damage to cabin luggage is limited to 2,250 SDR per passenger, per carriage; loss of or damage to vehicles including all luggage carried in or on the vehicle is limited to12,700 SDR per vehicle, per carriage; and liability of the carrier for the loss of or damage to other luggage is limited to 3,375 SDR per passenger, per carriage.
The 2002 Athens Convention also introduces compulsory insurance, as well as mechanisms to assist passengers in obtaining compensation, based on well-accepted principles applied in existing liability and compensation regimes dealing with environmental pollution. These include replacing the fault-based liability system with a strict liability system for shipping related incidents, backed by the requirement that the carrier take out compulsory insurance to cover these potential claims.
Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Seatrade, a trading name of Informa Markets (UK) Limited. Add Seatrade Maritime News to your Google News feed.
