Protocol to the Athens Convention Relating to the Carriage of Passengers and Their Luggage by Sea, 1974

General Information

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What is it about?

The 1974 Athens Convention used the "Poincaré franc", based on the "official" value of gold, as the applicable unit of account. However, experience showed that the conversion of this gold-franc into national currencies was becoming increasingly difficult. The 1976 Protocol to the Convention, with the same provisions as in the Protocols to the 1971 Fund Convention and the 1969 Liability Convention, was accordingly adopted in November 1976, providing for a new unit of account, based on the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) as used by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Why is it relevant?

Implements a unit of account that can be applied consistently across the ratifying states making it easier to calculate the value of personal claims for compensation in relation to the Fund.

Additional Information

The 1974 Convention consolidates and harmonizes the regime of liability for damage suffered by passengers carried on seagoing vessels. Liability was incurred where the incident occurred through the fault of the carrier. Three Protocols followed the convention, although the 2002 Protocol is considered the most important. It replaced the fault based liability system with a strict liability system.

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