ARTICLE 12. If the person who fits out a vessel of which he is not the owner is responsible for the claims in regard to which the responsibility of the owners is limited according to this convention, he shall be entitled to the same limitation. If the sub-charterer is responsible for claims arising from the subcharter contracts, he is entitled to this limitation in as far as the master has undertaken to carry out these contracts by receiving the merchandise or by signing a bill of lading. ARTICLE 13. The present convention shall be inapplicable to claims for loss of human lives or bodily injury, which shall continue to be governed exclusively by the national laws. Nothing in the foregoing provisions shall affect the jurisdiction of courts, procedure, and methods of enforcement established by national laws. ANNEX II. OUTLINE OF A PROPOSED CONVENTION, REGARDING MARITIME MORTGAGES AND PRIVILEGED LIENS, AS SUBMITTED TO THE EXAMINATION OF THE GOVERNMENTS CONCERNED. (Oct. 6-7, 1909.) Hypothecations, mortgages, and pledges, on vessels, regularly established in accordance with the laws of a contracting nation to which a vessel belongs, and recorded in a public record either of the port of registry or of a central recording office, shall be respected in all the other countries and shall produce the same effect there as in the country of origin.1 ARTICLE 2. Privileged liens shall take precedence over the rights mentioned in the foregoing article. 1 Certain objections have been made to the words underscored, it having been recognized that 1) questions of procedure and 2) sovereign rights in case of contraband war, prizes, etc., are not affected by the provisions. ARTICLE 3. The following claims, in the order given, shall alone constitute privileged liens on a vessel, on the perquisites pertaining thereto, and on the rent or freight received therefor for the voyage during which the privileged claims arise: 1. Judicial expenses, tonnage, lighthouse, and port dues, and other public taxes and imposts of the same kind, and expenses of guarding and preservation after the entrance of the vessel into the last port. 2. Claims arising from the contract of hire of the master, the crew, or other persons embarked in the service of the vessel, and the expenses of piloting. 3. Compensation due for salvage and assistance, and the contribution of the vessel to gross average. 4. Claims for supplies and repairs and other obligations contracted for the same purpose by the master, in case of necessity, outside the port of registry, for the preservation of the vessel or for the sake of continuing the voyage, as far as such acts have been rendered necessary by an actual need, whether or not the master is at the same time the owner of the vessel and whether the claim is his or that of the suppliers, repairers, lenders, or other contractors. 5. Indemnities due to another vessel, its cargo, its crew, or its passengers by reason of a collision or any other accident arising from a fault of navigation.2 ARTICLE 4. The order of preference of the privileged liens relating to the same voyage is regulated in accordance with the enumeration given in Article 3. The claims appearing under one and the same number of this article are considered according to their proportionate amounts. However, the claims enumerated in Article 3 under numbers 3 and 4 shall be considered in the inverse order of the dates on which they have 2 The closing protocol would contain the following provisions: It is understood that the legislation of each nation shall retain the privilege of granting, to the authorities of the nation or to other public authorities who have caused a hulk or other objects obstructing navigation to be removed, the right to sell these objects and to compensate themselves, from the proceeds of the sale, for the expenses of removal in preference to other creditors. It is likewise understood that the national legislation retains the right to grant a privileged lien to public insurance institutions for claims arising from the insurance of the personnel of the vessels. arisen, claims arising from the same emergency being regarded as having originated at the same time. In case the claims contemplated under number 4 of Article 3 arise from expenditures made or personal obligations contracted by the master, they shall be preferred to the other claims mentioned in this provision. ARTICLE 5. If claims do not relate to the same voyage, the privilege liens of claims of a subsequent voyage take precedence over those of a previous voyage. ARTICLE 6. A privileged lien ceases to exist upon the expiration of a period of two years from the date of the origin of the claim. In the case of the claims referred to in Article 3 under number 2, this period is one year, beginning on the date when the service ceases to be rendered. The causes of suspension and interruption of this limitation period shall be determined by the law governing in the court taking cognizance of the case. The high contracting parties reserve the right to admit in their legislation, as extending the period fixed above, the fact that it has been impossible to seize the vessel in the territorial waters of the nation in which the plaintiff has his domicile or his headquarters. ARTICLE 7. A privileged lien on the rent or freight may be enforced while the rent or freight is in the hands of the charterer, loader, consignee, master, agent, or any other third party. It ceases to exist when the freight is received by the owner himself. ARTICLE 8. The privileged liens established by the foregoing provisions are not subject to any formality or to any special condition respecting proof. ARTICLE 9. The foregoing provisions are applicable to vessels managed or employed by other persons than the owner, except when the owner has been dispossessed by an unlawful act and when, besides, the creditor is not a bona fide one. ARTICLE 10. The perquisites referred to in Article 3 are: 1. Compensation paid or due to the owner of a vessel for gross average as far as the latter constitutes either a material injury sustained by the vessel and not repaired, or losses of freight. 2. Compensation paid or due for reparation of damages, whether it be a question of damages sustained by the vessel and not repaired, or of losses of freight. 3. Amounts paid or due to the owner of the vessel for assistance or salvage, after deducting the amounts allowed to the master or the crew. Indemnities due or paid under insurance contracts, or premiums, subsidies, or other national pecuniary assistance, are not considered as perquisites of the vessel. ARTICLE 11. The provisions of the present convention shall be applicable in each contracting nation when one of the interested parties is a citizen or subject of another contracting nation, as well as in other cases provided for in the national laws. However, the rule laid down in the foregoing paragraph shall not affect the right of the contracting nations not to apply the provisions of the present convention in favor of the citizens or subjects of a noncontracting nation. ARTICLE 12. The present convention shall not be applicable to government vessels. ANNEX III. INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION FOR THE PURPOSE OF ESTABLISHING UNIFORMITY IN CERTAIN RULES REGARDING COLLISIONS. ARTICLE 1. In the case of collisions occurring between seagoing vessels or between seagoing vessels and boats engaged in inland navigation, the reparation of the injuries caused to the vessel and to the things or persons on board thereof shall be subject to the following provisions, without regard to the waters where the collision occurs: ARTICLE 2. If the collision is accidental, or is due to uncontrollable events, or if there is a doubt as to the causes thereof, the damages shall be borne by those who have sustained them. This provision shall be applicable in cases in which both or either of the vessels are at the anchoring ground at the time of the accident. ARTICLE 3. If the collision is due to the fault of one of the vessels, the reparation of the damage shall be incumbent on the one which has committed the fault. ARTICLE 4. If both are at fault, the responsibility of each of the vessels shall be in proportion to the gravity of the faults respectively committed; however, if, according to the circumstances, the proportion cannot be established or if the faults appear to be equal, the responsibility shall be shared equally. Injuries caused to the vessels, to their cargo, or to the personal effects or other property of the crew, passengers, or other persons on board, shall be borne by the vessels at fault in the aforesaid proportion, without any joint responsibility on the part of third parties. The vessels at fault shall be jointly responsible toward third parties. for injuries caused by death or wounds, except that the vessel which has paid a portion exceeding that which it should finally bear in accordance with the foregoing paragraph of the present article shall be entitled to recover. It shall be encumbent upon the national laws to determine, with respect to this action for recovery, the scope and effect of the provisions of contracts or laws which limit the responsibility of the owners of vessels toward the persons on board thereof. ARTICLE 5. The responsibility established by the foregoing articles continues to exist in case the collision is caused by the fault of a pilot, even when the employment of the latter is compulsory. ARTICLE 6. An action for damages on account of injuries sustained from a collision shall not be subject either to a protest or to any other special formality. |