The contracting states of this Agreement, recognizing the desirability of establishing certain rules regarding the maritime transport of passengers and their luggage through an agreement.

Have decided to conclude an Agreement for this purpose and have agreed to the following:

The following expressions in this Agreement indicate the meaning specified next to each of them:

• 1.

  • A- Carrier: means the person who has entered into the transport contract on their behalf or on behalf of another, whether the transport operation is carried out by them or by a physical carrier.

  • B- Actual or executing carrier: means the person who is not the carrier, whether the owner of the vessel, the charterer, or the operator, who actually carries out the transport operation in whole or in part.

• 2. Transport Contract: means the contract concluded by the carrier or on their behalf for the transport of passengers (or passengers and their luggage) by sea as applicable.

• 3. Vessel: means any vessel that is seaworthy, excluding air-cushion vehicles.

• 4. Passenger: means any person transported on board the vessel,

  • (A) under the transport contract, or 

  • (B) accompanying with the carrier's consent a vehicle, or live animals that are included in a cargo transport contract to which this Agreement does not apply;

• 5. Luggage: means any goods or vehicles transported by the carrier under the transport contract, excluding:

  • (A) goods and vehicles transported under a lease agreement, or a bill of lading, or another contract primarily concerned with the transport of goods, or

  • (B) live animals,

• 6. Cabin luggage: means the luggage of the passenger in their cabin or in their possession or under their custody or supervision, excluding what is covered by paragraph (8) of this article and Article (8), and cabin luggage includes luggage that the passenger has in their vehicle or on it.

• 7. Loss or damage of luggage: includes financial losses resulting from the failure to redeliver the luggage to the passenger within a reasonable time after the arrival of the vessel on which the luggage was or was supposed to be, but does not include delays resulting from labor disputes;

• 8. Transport operation covers the following periods:

  • (A) concerning passengers and their cabin luggage: the period during which the passenger and/or their cabin luggage are on board the vessel or during embarkation or disembarkation, and the period during which the passenger and their cabin luggage are transported over water from land to the vessel or vice versa, if the cost of such transport is included in the transport fare, or if a vessel used for this purpose has been made available to the passenger by the carrier, and concerning passengers, transport does not include the period they were at the maritime terminal or port station or on the dock or in any other port facility.

  • (B) concerning cabin luggage: also includes the period during which passengers are at a maritime terminal or port station or on the dock or in any other port facility if this luggage has been delivered to the carrier or their agents, or their representative and has not been redelivered to the passenger;

  • (C) concerning other luggage that is not cabin luggage, includes the period from the time it is delivered by the carrier or their agents, or their representative on the shore or on board the vessel until the time it is redelivered to the passenger.

• 9. International transport is any transport carried out, according to the transport contract, where the place of departure and the place of destination are in two different countries, or in one country if there is, according to the transport contract or the scheduled route, a port of call in another country.

1) This Agreement applies to any international transfer operation provided that the following conditions are met:

• A- The vessel is flying the flag of or registered in a State Party to this Agreement, or

• B- The transport contract was concluded in a State Party to this Agreement, or

• C- The place of departure or destination, according to the transport contract, is in a State Party to this Agreement.

2) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1) of this article, this Agreement does not apply when the transfer operation is governed under any other international agreement related to the transport of passengers or luggage by another means of transport, with respect to the civil liability system according to the provisions of that agreement, to the extent that those provisions are mandatorily applicable to maritime transport.

1. The carrier shall be liable for damages resulting from the death of the passenger or bodily injury, as well as the loss or damage of luggage, if the incident that caused the damage occurred during the transfer process and was due to fault or negligence on the part of the carrier or its employees or agents acting within the scope of their work.

2. The burden of proof that the incident causing the loss or damage occurred during the transfer process and the extent of the loss or damage lies with the plaintiff.

3. Fault or negligence on the part of the carrier or its employees or agents acting within the scope of their work is presumed, unless proven otherwise, if the death or bodily injury of passengers, or the loss or damage of cabin luggage, resulted directly or indirectly from the sinking of the ship, its collision, grounding, or an explosion or fire on board, or from a defect in the ship. In the case of loss or damage to other luggage, such fault or negligence is presumed, unless proven otherwise, regardless of the nature of the incident that caused the loss or damage. In all other cases, the burden of proof for fault or negligence lies with the plaintiff.

1. If the execution of the transfer operation or part of it has been entrusted to the executing carrier, the carrier shall remain responsible for the entire transfer operation in accordance with the provisions of this agreement. In addition, the actual carrier "the executing carrier" shall be subject to the provisions of this agreement concerning the part of the transfer operation that it has executed.

2. The carrier shall be responsible for all actions taken or refrained from by the executing carrier or its affiliates or agents within the scope of their functions in the transfer operation.

3. The executing or actual carrier shall not be bound by any obligations not imposed by the agreement or any waivers of rights granted by this agreement unless it expressly agrees to do so in writing.

4. The liability of both the carrier and the executing carrier shall be joint liability when they are jointly responsible, and to that extent.

5. Nothing in this article shall prejudice any right of recourse between the carrier and the executing carrier.

The carrier shall not be liable for the loss or damage of money, negotiable securities, gold, jewelry, silver, ornaments, artworks, or other valuable items, unless such valuable items have been deposited with the carrier who has agreed to keep them, and in this case, the carrier shall be liable to the extent provided in paragraph three of Article (8), unless a higher limit has been agreed upon in accordance with paragraph one of Article (10).

If the carrier proves that the cause of the passenger's death, bodily injury, or loss or damage to their belongings is due to the fault or negligence of the passenger, the court hearing the case may fully or partially exempt the carrier from liability in accordance with the provisions of the law of that court.

1. The liability of the carrier for death or bodily injury to any passenger shall not exceed 700,000 francs in any event for each transportation operation. In cases where the compensation is in the form of periodic payments according to the law of the court hearing the case, the total value of the capital for those payments shall not exceed the aforementioned limit.

2. Notwithstanding the first paragraph of this article, the national law of any State party to this agreement may establish a higher limit of liability for individual passengers concerning carriers who are nationals of that State.

1. The liability of the carrier for the loss or damage of cabin luggage shall not exceed 12,500 francs per passenger, in any case of transport.

2. The liability of the carrier for the loss or damage of vehicles, including the movable property transported therein or thereon, shall not exceed 50,000 francs per vehicle, for each transport operation.

3. The liability of the carrier for the loss or damage of luggage other than that mentioned in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this article shall not exceed 18,000 francs per passenger, in any case.

4. The carrier and the passenger may agree that the carrier's liability is subject to a deduction not exceeding 1,750 francs in the case of damage to the vehicle, and also not exceeding 200 francs per passenger in the case of loss or damage to other luggage, to be deducted from the amount of compensation for this loss or damage.