Marine Liability Act (S.C. 2001, c. 6)

Application

Marginal note:Force of law

• 26 (1) Subject to the other provisions of this Part, Articles 1 to 15 and 18 of the Convention and Articles 8 and 9 of the Protocol have the force of law in Canada.

• Marginal note:Amendments to Part 3 of Schedule 1

  (2) The Governor in Council may, by regulation, amend Part 3 of Schedule 1 to add or delete a reservation made by Canada under Article 18 of the Convention.

• Marginal note:Exceptions

  (3) This Part does not apply to a claim that is the subject of a reservation made by Canada.

Marginal note:State Party to the Convention

27 For purposes of the application of the Convention, Canada is a State Party to the Convention.

Marginal note:Passenger claims

• 28 (1) The maximum liability for maritime claims that arise on any distinct occasion for loss of life or personal injury to passengers of a ship of less than 300 gross tonnage is the greater of

  • (a) 2 000 000 units of account, and

  • (b) 175 000 units of account multiplied by

    • (i) the number of passengers that the ship is authorized to carry according to any Canadian maritime document required under the Canada Shipping Act, 2001, or

    • (ii) the number of passengers on board the ship, if no Canadian maritime document is required under that Act.

• Marginal note:Claims — no contract of carriage

  (2) The maximum liability for maritime claims that arise on any distinct occasion for loss of life or personal injury to persons carried on board a ship of less than 300 gross tonnage otherwise than under a contract of passenger carriage is the greater of

  • (a) 2 000 000 units of account, and

  • (b) 175 000 units of account multiplied by

    • (i) the number of passengers that the ship is authorized to carry according to any Canadian maritime document required under the Canada Shipping Act, 2001, or

    • (ii) the number of persons on board the ship, if no Canadian maritime document is required under that Act.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (3) Subsection (2) does not apply in respect of

  • (a) the master of a ship, a member of a ship’s crew — or any other person employed or engaged in any capacity on the business of a ship — when they are carried on board the ship;

  • (b) a person carried on board a ship other than a ship operated for a commercial or public purpose;

  • (c) a person carried on board a ship in pursuance of the obligation on the master to carry shipwrecked, distressed or other persons or by reason of any circumstances that neither the master nor the owner could have prevented;

  • (c.1) a stowaway, a trespasser or any other person who boards a ship without the consent or knowledge of the master or the owner; or

  • (d) a person who is a member of a class of persons prescribed under paragraph 34.1(a).

Marginal note:Other claims

29 The maximum liability for maritime claims that arise on any distinct occasion involving a ship of less than 300 gross tonnage, other than claims referred to in section 28, is

• (a) $1,000,000 in respect of claims for loss of life or personal injury; and

• (b) $500,000 in respect of any other claims.

Marginal note:Calculation of tonnage

29.1 For the purposes of sections 28 and 29, a ship’s gross tonnage shall be calculated in accordance with the tonnage measurement rules contained in Annex I of the International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, 1969, concluded at London on June 23, 1969, including any amendments, whenever they are made, to the Annexes or Appendix to that Convention.

Liability of Owners of Docks, Canals and Ports

Marginal note:Limitation of liability

• 30 (1) The maximum liability of an owner of a dock, canal or port, for a claim that arises on any distinct occasion for loss caused to a ship, or to any cargo or other property on board a ship, is the greater of

  • (a) $2,000,000, and

  • (b) the amount calculated by multiplying $1,000 by the number of tons of the gross tonnage of the largest ship that is at the time of the loss, or had been within a period of five years before that time, within the area of the dock, canal or port over which the owner had control or management.

• Marginal note:Calculation of tonnage

  (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), a ship’s gross tonnage shall be calculated in the manner described in section 29.1.

• Marginal note:Application

  (3) The maximum liability specified in subsection (1) also applies to any person for whose act or omission the owner is responsible.

• Marginal note:Conduct barring limitation

  (4) This section does not apply to an owner, or a person for whose act or omission the owner is responsible, if it is proved that the loss resulted from the personal act or omission of that owner or that person, as the case may be, committed with intent to cause the loss or recklessly and with knowledge that the loss would probably result.

• Marginal note:Meaning of terms

  (5) For the purposes of this section,

  • (a) “dock” includes wet docks and basins, tidal-docks and basins, locks, cuts, entrances, dry docks, graving docks, gridirons, slips, quays, wharfs, piers, stages, landing places, jetties and synchrolifts; and

  • (b) “owner of a dock, canal or port” includes any person or authority having the control or management of the dock, canal or port and any ship repairer using the dock, canal or port.

Amendment of Maximum Liability

Marginal note:Amendment of limits

• 31 (1) The Governor in Council may, by regulation, amend Schedule 1 to implement an amendment that is made in accordance with Article 8 of the Protocol to any of the limits of liability that are specified in paragraph 1 of Article 6 or paragraph 1 of Article 7 of the Convention.

• Marginal note:Amendment of sections 28, 29 and 30

  (2) The Governor in Council may, by regulation, amend the limits of liability set out in sections 28, 29 and 30.

Procedure

Marginal note:Jurisdiction of Admiralty Court

• 32 (1) The Admiralty Court has exclusive jurisdiction with respect to any matter relating to the constitution and distribution of a limitation fund under Articles 11 to 13 of the Convention.

• Marginal note:Right to assert limitation defence

  (2) Where a claim is made or apprehended against a person in respect of liability that is limited by section 28, 29 or 30 of this Act or paragraph 1 of Article 6 or 7 of the Convention, that person may assert the right to limitation of liability in a defence filed, or by way of action or counterclaim for declaratory relief, in any court of competent jurisdiction in Canada.

Marginal note:Powers of Admiralty Court

• 33 (1) Where a claim is made or apprehended against a person in respect of liability that is limited by section 28 or 29 of this Act or paragraph 1 of Article 6 or 7 of the Convention, the Admiralty Court, on application by that person or any other interested person, including a person who is a party to proceedings in relation to the same subject-matter before another court, tribunal or authority, may take any steps it considers appropriate, including

  • (a) determining the amount of the liability and providing for the constitution and distribution of a fund under Articles 11 and 12 of the Convention;

  • (b) joining interested persons as parties to the proceedings, excluding any claimants who do not make a claim within a certain time, requiring security from the person claiming limitation of liability or from any other interested person and requiring the payment of any costs; and

  • (c) enjoining any person from commencing or continuing proceedings in any court, tribunal or authority other than the Admiralty Court in relation to the same subject-matter.

• Marginal note:Court may postpone distribution

  (2) In providing for the distribution of a fund under paragraph (1)(a) in relation to any liability, the Admiralty Court may, having regard to any claim that may subsequently be established before a court, tribunal or other authority outside Canada in respect of that liability, postpone the distribution of any part of the fund that it considers appropriate.

• Marginal note:Lien and other rights

  (3) No lien or other right in respect of a ship or other property affects the proportions in which a fund is distributed by the Admiralty Court.

• Marginal note:Procedural matters

  (4) The Admiralty Court may

  • (a) make any rule of procedure it considers appropriate with respect to proceedings before it under this section; and

  • (b) determine what form of guarantee it considers to be adequate for the purposes of paragraph 2 of Article 11 of the Convention.

• Marginal note:Interest

  (5) For the purposes of Article 11 of the Convention, interest is payable at the rate prescribed under the Income Tax Act for amounts payable by the Minister of National Revenue as refunds of overpayments of tax under that Act.

Marginal note:Release of ships, etc.

• 34 (1) Where a ship or other property is released under paragraph 2 of Article 13 of the Convention, in any case other than one in which a fund has been constituted in a place described in paragraphs (a) to (d) of that Article, the person who applied for the release is deemed to have submitted to the jurisdiction of the court that ordered the release for the purpose of determining the claim.

• Marginal note:Limitation fund in state other than Canada

  (2) In considering whether to release a ship or other property referred to in subsection (1), the court shall not have regard to a limitation fund constituted in a country other than Canada unless the court is satisfied that the country is a State Party to the Convention.

Regulations

Marginal note:Governor in Council

34.1 The Governor in Council may make regulations

• (a) prescribing classes of persons for the purpose of paragraph 28(3)(d); and

• (b) generally for carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Part.

PART 4Liability for Carriage of Passengers by Water

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

35 The definitions in this section apply in this Part.

Convention

Convention means the Athens Convention relating to the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea, 1974, concluded at Athens on December 13, 1974, as amended by the Protocol, Articles 1 to 22 of which Convention are set out in Part 1 of Schedule 2. (Convention)

Protocol

Protocol means the Protocol of 1990 to amend the Athens Convention relating to the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea, 1974, concluded at London on March 29, 1990, Articles III and VIII of which are set out in Part 2 of Schedule 2. (Protocole)

Marginal note:Extended meaning of expressions

• 36 (1) For the purposes of this Part and Articles 1 to 22 of the Convention,

  • (a) the definition ship in Article 1 of the Convention shall be read as including any vessel or craft designed, used or capable of being used solely or partly for navigation, whether seagoing or not, but not including an air cushion vehicle or a vessel propelled manually by paddles or oars; and

  • (b) in the definition contract of carriage in Article 1 of the Convention, the expression “carriage by sea” shall be read as “carriage by water”.

• Marginal note:Owners of ships

  (2) For greater certainty, in the application of the Convention under this Part, Article 19 of the Convention applies to owners of all ships, whether seagoing or not.

• Marginal note:Inconsistency

  (3) In the event of any inconsistency between this section and sections 35 and 37 to 40 of this Act and Articles 1 to 22 of the Convention, those sections prevail to the extent of the inconsistency.

Application

Marginal note:Force of law

• 37 (1) Articles 1 to 22 of the Convention have the force of law in Canada.

• Marginal note:Extended application

  (2) Articles 1 to 22 of the Convention also apply in respect of

  • (a) the carriage by water, under a contract of carriage, of passengers or of passengers and their luggage from one place in Canada to the same or another place in Canada, either directly or by way of a place outside Canada; and

  • (b) the carriage by water, otherwise than under a contract of carriage, of persons or of persons and their luggage, excluding

    • (i) the master of a ship, a member of a ship’s crew or any other person employed or engaged in any capacity on board a ship on the business of the ship,

    • (ii) a person carried on board a ship other than a ship operated for a commercial or public purpose,

    • (iii) a person carried on board a ship in pursuance of the obligation on the master to carry shipwrecked, distressed or other persons or by reason of any circumstances that neither the master nor the owner could have prevented, and

    • (iv) a stowaway, a trespasser or any other person who boards a ship without the consent or knowledge of the master or the owner.

Marginal note:Exception — adventure tourism activities

• 37.1 (1) This Part does not apply to an adventure tourism activity that meets the following conditions:

  • (a) it exposes participants to an aquatic environment;

  • (b) it normally requires safety equipment and procedures beyond those normally used in the carriage of passengers;

  • (c) participants are exposed to greater risks than passengers are normally exposed to in the carriage of passengers;

  • (d) its risks have been presented to the participants and they have accepted in writing to be exposed to them; and

  • (e) any condition prescribed under paragraph 39(c).

• Marginal note:Exception — persons

  (2) This Part does not apply to the carriage of a sail trainee or a person who is a member of a class of persons prescribed under paragraph 39(d).