Protocol of 1996 to amend the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims, 1976 (LLMC PROT 1996)

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What is it about?

The 1996 LLMC Protocol increases the limit of liability for loss of life claims and personal injury claims for ships not exceeding 2,000 gross tonnage. The new limit is 2 million SDR (US$3.17 million)* and the limit for property claims for ships not exceeding 2,000 gross tonnage is 1 million SDR (US$1.586 million).* The limits under the 1976 Convention were set at 333,000 SDR (US$499,500)* for personal claims for ships not exceeding 500 tons and at 167,000 SDR (US$250,500)* for other claims. This result is a six-fold increase in the amount of compensation available The Protocol not only substantially increases the amount of compensation payable in the event of an incident, but also introduces a “tacit acceptance” procedure for updating these amounts. This procedure enables amendment of the limits at the request of at least half the contracting states. The amendments will be adopted by a two-thirds majority of the contracting states to the convention present and voting at the conference. *(Using exchange rate of 1 SDR=1.586 US$, as at 29 November 2007)

Why is it relevant?

The Protocol substantially increases the total amount of compensation payable in the case of qualifying incidents. The extra compensation made available more fully covers the losses than the 1976 Convention.

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