Passenger Shipping
By Dr. Arun Kasi
Last Updated 4th Sept 2021
Passenger Shipping
A popular convention that regulates carrier’s liability for personal injury to or death of passengers and damage to their luggage, etc is the Athens Convention 1974 amended by the Protocol of 2002. UK is a member state of the convention (ss 183 and 184 UK Merchant Shipping Act 1995). Under the convention, some liability is imposed on the carrier on a strict basis and others on fault basis. The convention also provides for liability limitation both in terms of each passenger and an overall limitation for the incident. The convention covers from the time of embarkation to the time of disembarkation. A time limit of two years from disembarkation (or death after disembarkation where the claim is in respect of death) is imposed for actions against the carrier. The convention also makes provisions for jurisdictional matters and compulsory liability insurance.
However, Malaysia is not a member state to the convention. Hence, a passenger claim will be brought pursuant to the law of tort (i.e. negligence). The questions of jurisdiction will be decided by the standard rules applicable pursuant to the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 and the Rules of Court 2012. The applicable time limit will be the standard six years pursuant to s 6 of the Limitation Act 1953. The tonnage limit in LLMC 1976 as amended by the Protocol of 1996 will be applicable in respect of Peninsular Malaysia. For Sabah and Sarawak, the Liability Convention 1957 limits will be applicable. For more details on the tonnage limitation, please see https://arunkasico.com/ship-arrest.
In practice, passenger claims are often settled by the P&I clubs out of court.
Adjunct Prof. Dr. Arun Kasi
LLB (Hons), LLM, PhD, CLP, Bar-at-Law, FCIArb (London)
Adjunct Prof. Dr. Arun Kasi
LLB (Hons), LLM, PhD, CLP, Bar-at-Law, FCIArb (London)
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