The Shipping Law Blog
A Useful Guide to the World of Maritime Law

Does the Athens Convention Only Apply to ‘International’ Carriage of Passengers?

Generally, yes, but in the UK, no.

The Athens Convention 1974 applies to the “international carriage” of passengers by sea. It provides for a two year time limit for bringing claims against the carrier (reduced from 3 years under English law generally).

The Athens Convention was brought into law in the United Kingdom by the Merchant Shipping Act 1979. This applied the terms of Athens Convention to all passengers on international voyages, departing from or bound for the UK.

However, in 1987 the UK government the ‘Domestic Carriage Order’[1] was brought into force, which extended the Athens Convention cover to all passengers on voyages which begin and end within the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man.

——————————————————————————–
[1] The Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea (Domestic Carriage) Order 1987

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

The Shipping Law Blog

For ten years the Shipping Law Blog has aimed to provide a simple, down-to-earth guide to the world of international shipping and maritime law.

If you have any questions or suggestions please get in touch at editor@theshippinglawblog.com .

Most Popular Posts

A Beginners’ Guide to Sailing

Learning to sail is one of the best ways to familiarise yourself with the basics of operating a vessel on water. Many of the terms draw across to the shipping

A Brief Guide to Liquidated Damages

We often receive queries from readers at the Shipping Law Blog, and today we received one from a non-lawyer, who had been asked to confirm whether one of their contracts

Search The Shipping Law Blog
Questions & Answers
Maritime Disasters
MARITIME STYLE GUIDE
Maritime Law Links
Visitor Loaction Map
Archives
Copyright & Legal

1. All content reserved copyright of theshippinglawblog.com 2015, unless stated otherwise. 2. Header image credit: Paul Gorbould, ‘Leader on Ice’ (Flickr). 3. This website is not intended to provide legal advice and is for interest only. The author does not guarantee the accuracy of any content and, as always, recommends that appropriate professional legal advice is sought by anyone requiring assistance with a shipping law problem. 4. If you have any ideas, recommendations or other queries in relation to the blog please e-mail me at webmaster@theshippinglawblog.com.