### Merchant Shipping (Limitation of Shipowners Liability) Ordinance 《商船(限制船東責任)條例》

2. Interpretation
In this Ordinance—

Athens Convention relating to the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea, 1974 (《1974年海上運輸旅客及其行李雅典公約》) means—
(a) the convention of that name done at Athens on 13 December 1974; and (Amended 1 of 2005 s. 2)
(b) the protocol to that convention done at London on 19 November 1976,
both of which were established in a single original in the English and French languages;

contract of carriage (運輸合約) has the meaning assigned to it in Article 1 of the Athens Convention relating to the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea, 1974; (Added 1 of 2005 s. 2)

Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims, 1976 (《1976年海事索賠責任限制公約》) means—
(a) the convention of that name done at London on 19 November 1976, which was established in a single original in the English, French, Russian and Spanish languages; and
(b) the protocol to that convention done at London on 2 May 1996, which was established in a single original in the Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish languages; (Replaced 1 of 2005 s. 2)

international carriage (國際運輸) has the meaning assigned to it in Article 1 of the Athens Convention relating to the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea, 1974; (Added 1 of 2005 s. 2)

regional carriage (區域運輸) means any carriage in which—
(a) according to the contract of carriage, the place of departure and the place of destination are situated in—
(i) Hong Kong and Macau, or vice versa; or
(ii) Hong Kong and any port in the Mainland, or vice versa; and
(b) according to the contract of carriage or the scheduled itinerary, the intermediate port of call, if any, is in Hong Kong, Macau or the Mainland; (Added 1 of 2005 s. 2. Amended E.R. 1 of 2022)

the Mainland (內地) means any part of China other than Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.  (Added 1 of 2005 s. 2. Amended E.R. 1 of 2022)
(Amended E.R. 1 of 2022)

### Merchant Shipping (Limitation of Shipowners Liability) Ordinance 《商船(限制船東責任)條例》

3. Convention to have force of law
(1) Subject to this Part, the provisions of the Athens Convention relating to the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea, 1974 set out in Schedule 1 (in this Part and in that Schedule referred to as the Convention (公約)) have the force of law in Hong Kong. (Amended 1 of 2005 s. 3)
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph 1 of Article 2 of the Convention, and subject to this Part, the Convention applies to regional carriage. (Added 1 of 2005 s. 3)

4. Interpretation
For the purposes of this Ordinance—
(a) notwithstanding paragraph 3 of Article 1 of the Convention, ship (船、船舶) in the Convention means any seagoing vessel, and includes any air-cushion vehicle designed to operate in or over water while so operating;
(b) the provisions of the law of that court (該法院的適用法律) in Article 6 of the Convention means section 21 of the Law Amendment and Reform (Consolidation) Ordinance (Cap. 23); and
(c) contract of carriage (運輸合約) in the Convention does not include a contract of carriage which is not for reward.

5. Application
(1) For the purposes of paragraph 2 of Article 2 of the Convention, provisions of such an international convention as is mentioned in that paragraph which apart from this subsection do not have mandatory application to international carriage by sea shall be treated as having mandatory application to international carriage by sea if it is stated in the contract of carriage for the carriage in question that those provisions are to apply in connection with the carriage. (Amended 1 of 2005 s. 4)
(2) In its application to regional carriage, the Convention is to be read as if paragraph 2 of Article 2 were omitted. (Added 1 of 2005 s. 4)

6. Limit of liability for personal injury
(1) In relation to a carrier whose principal place of business is in Hong Kong the Chief Executive may by order specify a limit in substitution for, but not lower than, the limit specified in paragraph 1 of Article 7 of the Convention. (Amended 1 of 2005 s. 5)
(2) In its application to regional carriage, the Convention is to be read as if paragraph 2 of Article 7 were omitted. (Added 1 of 2005 s. 5)

6A. Unit of account and conversion
In its application to regional carriage, Article 9 of the Convention is to be read as if the words “currency of Hong Kong” were substituted for the words “national currency of the State of the court seized of the case”.
(Added 1 of 2005 s. 6)

### Merchant Shipping (Limitation of Shipowners Liability) Ordinance 《商船(限制船東責任)條例》

7. Aggregation of claims
For the avoidance of doubt it is declared that the limitations on liability mentioned in Article 12 of the Convention in respect of a passenger or his luggage apply to the aggregate liabilities of the persons in question in all proceedings for enforcing the liabilities or any of them which may be brought whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere.

8. Time-bar for actions
Article 16 of the Convention applies to an arbitration as it applies to an action.

9. Competent jurisdiction
(1) The court before which proceedings are brought in pursuance of Article 17 of the Convention to enforce a liability which is limited by virtue of Article 12 of the Convention may at any stage of the proceedings make such order as appears to the court to be just and equitable in view of the provisions of Article 12 of the Convention and of any other proceedings which have been or are likely to be begun in Hong Kong or elsewhere to enforce the liability in whole or in part.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), where such liability is or may be partly enforceable in other proceedings in Hong Kong or elsewhere, such court has jurisdiction to award an amount less than the court would have awarded if the limitation applied solely to the proceedings before the court, or to make any part of its award conditional on the results of any other proceedings.
(3) In its application to regional carriage, Article 17 of the Convention is to be read as if—
(a) paragraph 1 were omitted; and
(b) in paragraph 2, the words “the court” were substituted for the words “any jurisdiction”. (Added 1 of 2005 s. 7)

9A. Invalidity of contractual provisions
In its application to regional carriage, Article 18 of the Convention is to be read as if the words “or having the effect of restricting the option specified in paragraph 1 of Article 17,” were omitted.
(Added 1 of 2005 s. 8)

10. Notice by carrier to passenger
The Chief Executive may by order make provision— (Amended 1 of 2005 s. 9)
(a) for requiring a person who is the carrier in relation to a passenger to give to the passenger, in a manner prescribed in the order, notice of such of the provisions of the Convention as are so prescribed;
(b) for a person who fails to comply with a requirement imposed on him by the order to be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine at level 3. (Amended E.R. 1 of 2022)

11. Application of Part
Nothing in this Part affects the operation of Part III.