Strasbourg Convention on the limitation of liability in inland navigation

CLNI 1988

The Strasbourg Convention on the limitation of liability in inland navigation (CLNI) is based on the model of the Convention on limitation of liability for maritime claims (LLMC). It enables the owners and crew members of vessels and their salvors to set at a given maximum amount the limit of their liability in respect of a large number of claims made in connection with a single incident. This limit depends on the dimensions of the vessel, determined according to criteria that include displacement, propulsion power, dead weight, and the permitted number of passengers in the case of a passenger vessel.

The limits are expressed in special drawing rights (SDR) in order to ensure identical value in all the contracting States. The special drawing right is a unit of account introduced by the International Monetary Fund (IMF); its daily value in euros may be consulted on the IMF’s Internet site at https://www.imf.org.

By offering a better estimate of the liability risk, the monetary limitation of liability puts the insurance market in a better position to offer products in keeping with the risks of inland navigation without such cover constituting an excessive burden for the transport companies.

The limitation of liability may be assured by setting up a fund containing the amount of the limitation or by defensive proceedings. The 1988 CLNI provides that the practicalities of the procedure should be laid down by the contracting Parties.

The 1988 CLNI was adopted on 4 November 1988 and entered into force on 1 June 1997. It was ratified by Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland. It was denounced on 7 June 2018 by Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, to take effect on 1 July 2019.

CLNI 2012

The Strasbourg Convention of 2012 on the limitation of liability in inland navigation (CLNI 2012) reiterates much of the content of the 1988 Convention. In 2007 the CLNI 1988 Contracting States decided to embark on a process of revising CLNI 1988 with the aim of making it attractive to other States, particularly by opening up access to States with no direct navigable link with the Rhine and the Moselle, and updating the amounts of the limitation of liability agreed on twenty years earlier.

On 27 September 2012, a Diplomatic Conference convened by the Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine (CCNR) concluded the 2012 Strasbourg Convention on the limitation of liability in inland navigation (CLNI 2012).

The main differences between the two Conventions are as follows:

• CLNI 2012 has a broader geographical field of application, which now extends beyond just the Rhine and the Moselle to include all inland waterways, including the Danube, the Elbe, the Oder and the Sava. Contracting States nevertheless have the possibility of making other arrangements for waterways of no importance for international transport.
• The general limits of liability for claims in respect of physical injury and material damage have been substantially increased, by taking account of inflation and the increases that have been made in the maritime field. The limits have in fact been doubled.
• Limits have been introduced for compensating for damage resulting from the transport of dangerous goods. These are twice the general limits, subject to a minimum of SDR 10 million.
• The amounts of limitation of liability for claims from passengers on passenger vessels have been increased by 66%. The minimum amount has also been increased from SDR 720 000 to SDR 2 million. The provision that the limitation of liability may never exceed SDR 12 million has been deleted.
• A procedure has been introduced to allow the limits to be altered without a new Convention having to be adopted. Under this simplified revision procedure, the CCNR’s Secretary General is to keep a regular check on the extent to which the limits depreciate in general monetary value and submit a proposal for amendment to the Contracting States if depreciation reaches a level of 10%. The proposal would enter into force for Member States 21 months after it notification, unless the proposal is rejected by one-third of the Contracting States within a period of one year from the date of notification.

CLNI 2012 will enter into force once four States have deposited their instruments of ratification and CLNI 1988 has been extinguished. After Serbia in 2013, Luxembourg in 2014, and Hungary in 2018, on 7 June 2018, the Netherlands deposited their instrument of acceptance of the CLNI 2012 (see status of signatures and ratifications of the CLNI 2012). Moreover, on the same day, the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg notified their denunciation of the CLNI 1988, to take effect 1 July 2019.

State of signatures and ratifications of CLNI 2012

La présente Convention était ouverte à la signature de tout Etat du 27 septembre 2012 au 26 septembre 2014, au siège de la Commission Centrale pour la Navigation du Rhin à Strasbourg, elle est entrée en vigueur le 1er juillet 2019.

¹ Reservation expressed by Germany
In accordance with Article 18, paragraph 1 of the Convention, the Federal Republic of Germany reserves the right to exclude fully or in part the application of the provisions of the Convention to the claims referred to in Article 18, paragraph 1, (a) and (c) of the Convention, and the vessels referred to in Article 18, paragraph 1, (d) of the Convention.
² Réserve faite par la Belgique
Conformément à l'article 18, paragraphe 1, a) de la Convention, le Royaume de Belgique se réserve le droit d’exclure l’application des règles de la Convention aux créances pour dommages dus au changement de la qualité physique, chimique ou biologique de l’eau.
³ Réserve et déclarations faites par le Luxembourg
Réserve :
Aux fins de l’article 18, paragraphe (1), le Grand-Duché de Luxembourg exclut les créances pour dommages dus aux changements de la qualité physique, chimique ou biologique de l’eau.
Déclarations :
Aux fins de l’article 15, paragraphe (2), le Grand-Duché de Luxembourg déclare que la Convention mentionnée à l’article 1er ne s’applique que sur la Moselle et la partie navigable de la Sûre.
Sans préjudice des droits relatifs aux créances pour mort ou lésions corporelles visés à l’article 6 de la Convention, les créances pour dommages causés aux ouvrages d’art des ports, bassins, voies navigables, écluses, barrages, pont et aides à la navigation disposent de la priorité par rapport aux autres créances.
⁴ Reservation expressed by the Netherlands
In accordance with Article 18, paragraph 1, (a) of the Convention, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with reference to the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, reserves the right to exclude fully the application of the provisions of the Convention relating to damage resulting from a change in the physical, chemical or biological quality of the water.
⁵ Réserve faite par la Serbie
Conformément à l'article 18, paragraphe 1, de la Convention de Strasbourg sur la limitation de la responsabilité en navigation intérieure (CLNI 2012), la République de Serbie déclare exclure l’application des dispositions de ladite Convention en cas de dommages dus à un changement de la qualité physique, chimique ou biologique de l'eau, ainsi qu’aux créances visées à l'article 2, paragraphe premier, lettres d) et e) de la Convention.

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