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

12. Convention to have force of law
Subject to this Part, the provisions of the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims, 1976 set out in Schedule 2 (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. 10)

13. Interpretation
For the purposes of this Ordinance—
(a) ship (船、船舶) in the Convention includes—
(i) any air-cushion vehicle designed to operate in or over water while so operating; and
(ii) any structure (whether completed or in the course of completion) launched and intended for use in navigation as a ship or part of a ship;

(b) references in the Convention to the court are references to the Court of First Instance; (Amended 25 of 1998 s. 2; 1 of 2005 s. 11)
(c) in the Chinese text of the Convention—
(i) 索償 has the same meaning as 索賠; and
(ii) 責任限額 has the same meaning as 責任限制. (Added 1 of 2005 s. 11)

14. Right to limit liability
Notwithstanding paragraph 2 of Article 1 of the Convention, the right to limit liability under the Convention applies in relation to any ship whether seagoing or not, and shipowner (船東、船舶所有人) in that paragraph has a corresponding meaning.
(Amended 1 of 2005 s. 12)

15. Claims subject to limitation
(1) The Chief Executive may by order provide for— (Amended 1 of 2005 s. 13)
(a) the setting up and management of a fund to be used for the making to harbour or conservancy authorities of payments needed to compensate them for the reduction, in consequence of paragraph 1(d) of Article 2 of the Convention, of amounts recoverable by them in claims of the kind there mentioned; and
(b) the maintaining of such a fund by contributions from such authorities raised and collected by them in respect of vessels in the same manner as other sums so raised by them.
(2) Any order under subsection (1) may contain such incidental and supplemental provisions as appear to the Chief Executive to be necessary or expedient. (Amended 1 of 2005 s. 13)
(3) Paragraph 1(d) of Article 2 of the Convention shall not apply unless an order has been made under subsection (1).

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

16. Claims excluded from limitation
(1) The claims excluded from the Convention by paragraph (b) of Article 3 of the Convention are claims in respect of any liability incurred under section 6 of the Merchant Shipping (Liability and Compensation for Oil Pollution) Ordinance (Cap. 414).
(2) The claims excluded from the Convention by paragraph (c) of Article 3 of the Convention are claims made by virtue of section 3 or 4 of the Nuclear Material (Liability for Carriage) Ordinance (Cap. 479). (Amended 45 of 1995 s. 17)

17. Calculation of ship’s tonnage
(1) (Repealed 1 of 2005 s. 14)(2) For the purposes of Article 6 of the Convention a ship’s tonnage is its gross tonnage calculated in such manner as may be prescribed by an order made by the Chief Executive.
(3) Any order under this section shall, so far as appears to the Chief Executive to be practicable, give effect to the regulations in Annex I of the International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, 1969.
(Amended 1 of 2005 s. 14)

18. Limit for passenger claims
(1) In the case of a passenger ship within the meaning of Part II of the Merchant Shipping (Safety) Ordinance (Cap. 369) the ship’s certificate mentioned in paragraph 1 of Article 7 of the Convention is the passenger ship’s certificate issued under section 14 of that Ordinance.
(2) In paragraph 2 of Article 7 of the Convention the reference to claims brought on behalf of a person includes a reference to any claim in respect of the death of a person under the Fatal Accidents Ordinance (Cap. 22).

19. Constitution of fund
(1) The Monetary Authority may from time to time by order prescribe the rate of interest to be applied for the purposes of paragraph 1 of Article 11 of the Convention.
(2) Where a fund is constituted with the court in accordance with Article 11 of the Convention for the payment of claims arising out of any occurrence, the court may stay any proceedings relating to any claim arising out of that occurrence which are pending against the person by whom the fund has been constituted.

20. Distribution of fund
No lien or other right in respect of any ship or property shall affect the proportions in which under Article 12 of the Convention the fund is distributed among several claimants.

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

21. Bar to other actions
Where the release of a ship or other property is ordered under paragraph 2 of Article 13 of the Convention, the person on whose application it is ordered to be released is deemed to have submitted to the jurisdiction of the court to adjudicate on the claim for which the ship or property was arrested or attached.

22. Exclusion of liability
(1) Subject to subsection (3), the owner of a Hong Kong ship is not liable for any loss or damage—
(a) where any property on board the ship is lost or damaged by reason of fire on board the ship; or
(b) where any gold, silver, watches, jewels or precious stones on board the ship are lost or damaged by reason of theft, robbery or other dishonest conduct and their nature and value were not at the time of shipment declared by their owner or shipper to the owner or master of the ship in the bill of lading or otherwise in writing.
(2) Subject to subsection (3), where the loss or damage arises from anything done or omitted by any person in his capacity as master or member of the crew or (otherwise than in that capacity) in the course of his employment as a servant of the owner of the ship, subsection (1) also excludes the liability of—
(a) the master, member of the crew or servant; and
(b) in a case where the master or member of the crew is the servant of a person whose liability would not be excluded by that subsection apart from this paragraph, the person whose servant he is.
(3) This section does not exclude the liability of any person for any loss or damage resulting from any such personal act or omission of his as is mentioned in Article 4 of the Convention.
(4) In this section owner (船東), in relation to a ship, includes any part owner and any charterer, manager or operator of the ship.

23. Application of Part
(1) Nothing in this Part relieves a person of any liability imposed on him under Part II.
(2) (Repealed 1 of 2005 s. 15)

24. Meaning of State Party
The Chief Executive may by order declare that any State specified in the order is, or was at a date specified in the order, a party to the Athens Convention relating to the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea, 1974 or to the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims, 1976 in respect of a particular country, and any such order shall be conclusive evidence that that State is, while the order remains in force, or was at that date, a party to that convention in respect of that country.
(Amended 1 of 2005 s. 16)