Chapter XV
CIVIL LIABILITY OF SHIPOWNER
Article 194
1. The shipowner is liable for damages resulting from the employment of sea-going vessel where he fails to prove that damages have occurred not throughout his fault, such liability is hereinafter referred to as civil liability of the shipowner.
2. Civil liability of the shipowner does not relive him of administrative and criminal responsibilities.
Article 195
1. The shipowner is entitled to limit his liability according to the limitation of liability set out in Article 196 of the present Code where he makes good to any loss or damage incident to:
a) Loss of life or personal injury or health damage caused to any person on board the vessel, or loss of or damage to any property on board the vessel;
b) Loss of life or personal injury or health damage caused to any person outside the vessel, or loss of or damage to any property or other interests outside the vessel, or any rights infringed through the act or omission of any person, whether on board or not, whom the shipowner is responsible for.
Where loss or damage caused by any person outside the vessel whose act or omission the shipowner is responsible for, the shipowner is entitled to limit his liability to loss or damage only arising form the navigation or management of the vessel or in the loading, carriage or discharge of cargo; or in the embarkation, carriage or disembarkation of passengers;
c) Statutory obligations, liabilities for disposal of shipwreck together with her material bodies when being raised, and for removal, destruction of a vessel which is sunk, stranded or abandoned; obligations or liabilities for compensation for damages to the facilities of port, berth and wharf, channel, waterway anchorage area, dock; obligations or liabilities for compensation for environmental pollution damages caused by the vessel other than environmental pollution damages caused by atomic radio-activity.
2. The shipowner may limit his liability for compensation for the cases set out in point b, item 1 of this Article without proving fault on his privity or on part of the other persons for which he should be responsible where such liability resulting from the possession, proprietorship, management, control of the vessel.
3. The shipowner is not entitled to limit his liability where the damage is incident to:
a) Act of salvage or costs for general average contribution;
b) Environmental pollution caused by atomic radio-activity;
c) Claims of the shipmaster or other crew, shipowners servant working on board or outside the vessel whose duties have direct connection with the operation of the vessel including claims of the successor, his representative and other people who he should bring up if the statutory labour contract between the shipowner and the above people do not entitle the shipowner to the limitation of his liability for their claims or do entitle him only to limitation of the liability if this limitation is on a higher scale in comparison with that determined in Article 196 of the present Code.
4. Where the provisions in the Vietnamese regulations and laws on environmental protection or in the international treaties signed, or recognized by Vietnam are different from those laid down in the present Code, the shipowners limitation of liability is determined and calculated on the basis of such acts.
Article 196
1. The shipowner shall be, within the following limitations, entitled to limit his civil liability to:
a) An aggregate value of the vessel concerned calculating on the basis of Poincare Francs three thousand one hundred for each ton of the vessels gross registered tonnage (GRT) in respect of compensation for loss of life, personal injury or health damage;
b) An aggregate value of the vessel concerned calculating on the basis of Poincare Francs one thousand for each ton of the vessels gross registered tonnage (GRT) in respect of compensation for loss of or damage to the property;
c) An aggregate value of the vessel concerned calculating on the basis of Poincare Francs three thousand one hundred for each tone of the vessels gross registered tonnage (GRT) in respect of compensation for loss of life, personal injury or health damage, and loss of or damage to the property where these losses or damages have been resulting from the same occurrence. However, out of the above set out aggregate value, the total amount of Poincare Francs two thousand one hundred for each ton of the vessels gross registered tonnage (GRT) is designated for compensation for loss of life, personal injury and health damage, the balance - for loss of or damage to the property. In case the total amount to cover the compensation for loss of life, personal injury or health damage is insufficient, the imbalance shall be nibbled in a corresponding proportion from the money covering the compensation for loss of or damage to the property.
2. Any agreement to lessen the shipowners liability for compensation otherwise than the limitation determined in item 1 of this Article shall be null and void.
3. Gross Registered Tonnage (GRT) referred to in item 1 of this Article is determined as follows:
a) Net Registered Tonnage plus the tonnage of engine room space, if the vessel is self-propelled.
b) Net Registered Tonnage, if the vessel is non-self propelled.
4. In respect of limitation of the civil liability of shipowner, the ship having gross registered tonnage below three hundred tons shall be considered three hundred tons.
Article 197
1. The limitation determined in Article 196 of the present Code is only exclusively applicable to compensation for loss and damage resulting from the same occurrence not connected with the other occurrence.
2. Where in the same occurrence, the shipowner is entitled to lodge a counter claim against his claimant, the provisions of this Chapter is only applicable to ascertain the imbalance in comparison with liability of each party concerned.
3. The limitation determined in Article 196 of the present Code shall be converted into the Vietnamese currency according to the official exchange rate announced by the State Bank of Vietnam at the time of payment.
Article 198
1. Where the amount of compensation exceeds the limitation provided in Article 198 of the present Code, the shipowner may constitute a Compensation Fund to satisfy the claims.
2. The Compensation Fund shall be available exclusively for satisfaction of the claims for compensation, the limitation of civil liability of which the shipowner is entitled to.
3. The Compensation Fund shall be constituted either by depositing the sum or by producing other guarantee at the court where the claim is lodged or at a competent State authority and must be considered adequate and protected by such court or authority.
4. Where the Compensation Fund has been constituted by the shipowner nobody is entitled to infringe upon the interests and property of the shipowner. The court or the competent State authority referred to in item 3 of this Article is entitled to order the release of the property liened or arrested or to similarly order the release of the security furnished to avoid such lien or arrest.
5. The Compensation Fund shall be distributed among the claimants in proper proportion to the amounts of their established claims.
6. The constituting of the Compensation Fund shall not be considered as the admission of civil liabilities by the shipowner.
Article 199
The limitation of civil liability of a shipowner shall also be applied equally to that of a ship-operator, ship-manager, professional salvor and those persons for whose acts, negligence and fault the shipowner himself or they themselves should be liable.
Tìm kiếm
Luật hàng hải 1990 (Bản Word)