PROTOCOL
AMENDING THE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION RELATING TO THE LIMITATION OF THE
LIABILITY OF OWNERS OF SEA-GOING SHIPS DATED 10 OCTOBER 1957
(Brussels,
21.XII.1979)
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 10th October, 1957,
Have
agreed as follows:
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
10th October, 1957.
1.
Article 3, paragraph 1 of
the Convention is replaced by the following:
"1 The
amounts to which the owner of 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.
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 milligrammes 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.
This
Protocol shall be open for signature by the States which have signed the
Convention or which are Parties thereto.
(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.
(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.
(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.
(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.
(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.
The
Belgian Government shall notify the signatory and acceding States of the
following:
1.
the signatures, ratifications and accessions received in accordance with Articles
III, IV and V.