Risks covered - Rule 29: Liability for other persons carried on board

Rule 29 Liability for other persons carried on board

1 The Association shall cover liability arising out of the injury to, or illness or death of, or liability for loss of or damage to the effects of persons carried on board other than Crew or passengers provided that:

i in the case of a person other than a close relative of a member of the Crew, the Association has approved the presence of such persons on board;

ii the cover shall be subject to proviso (iii) to Rule 27.1.

2 The Association shall cover costs and expenses incurred as a direct consequence of complying with an order for the deportation of any such other person carried on board which would not have been incurred had no such order been made, subject to the provisos to Rule 27.2.

Guidance

(A) Liabilities for other persons carried on board (Rule 29)
The provisions of Rules 27 and 28 provide cover to the Member in respect of the Member’s liability to Crew members and passengers. These are persons with whom the Member usually has either an employment or carriage contract which will form the basis of liability. However, the cover that is available to a Member under Rule 29 is for liability that a Member has to others carried on board who are not Crew members or passengers. Such persons include repairmen or maintenance personnel, pilots, coast guard officers, supercargoes, relatives of the Crew and even stowaways and refugees. 

Rule 29 applies when such persons are ’carried on board’ which means that they remain on board the Ship for the whole or part of its voyage between ports.¹ Some persons may be on board on a temporary, short duration basis, such as pilots and coast guard officials, whereas others, e.g. relatives of the Crew, may be on board more regularly and/or for longer periods. However, the duration of the stay does not affect the scope of cover. Cover is available for the Member’s legal liability for the injury, illness or death of such persons whether such liability arises under contract, statute or the provisions of a national law. 

(B) The Association shall cover liability arising out of...injury…illness…death…of persons carried on board… (Rule 29.1)
The presence on board of repairers, maintenance men, supercargoes or buyer’s representatives that have been put on board may be subject to the terms of a contract which has been concluded between them and the Member. Cover is available for liability that the Member has for the injury, illness or death of such persons arising under the terms of such contract unless such terms are substantially more onerous than those of standard contracts which are customarily used in such circumstances.² Members are strongly advised to consult the Association if in doubt whether this may be the case. 

The Member may also incur liability by virtue of the provisions of national law and regulations in the relevant country. This may be the country where the incident occurred, or where the person came on board, or where the Member is domiciled, or the flag state, or the country of domicile of the person (or relatives) affected. Most laws impose a duty on the shipowner, on the one hand, to ensure that his vessel is safe for persons who are carried on board and impose liability for failure to ensure such safety, whilst, on the other hand, imposing a duty on the person carried on board to exercise such level of care for his own safety as is reasonable given his knowledge and experience of ships, and to comply with all shipboard instructions regarding safety precautions. 

Cover is available for the Member’s legal liability in respect of injury, illness or death where the Member has failed to provide the person with a safe place to work or stay on board, or, particularly in the case of pilots, failed to provide a safe means for embarkation and disembarkation. In the event that such persons become ill, cover is available for any breach by the Member of his duty to take proper steps to provide first aid and timely evacuation in acute circumstances, including breach of the duty to divert the ship to a port or another place where the person can be transported ashore by another ship or conveyance, if this is the only, or most effective, means of ensuring proper treatment.³ However, Members are strongly recommended to ensure that sub-contractors and other persons, including family members of the Crew, that board their Ships from time to time on a temporary basis should have travel insurance or some other similar form of insurance before they are allowed to board. 

(C) …liability for loss of or damage to effects of persons carried on board… (Rule 29.1)
Cover is also available for the Member’s liability to other persons carried on board for loss of or damage to their effects. This includes work tools brought on board by repairmen, equipment used by pilots and the personal belongings of close relatives of Crew members. However, cover is not available in respect of the valuables listed in proviso iii to Rule 27.1 even if the Member is liable to pay compensation in respect thereof. Members should ensure that persons who are carried on board for a prolonged period of time and/or who bring on board expensive personal effects, should provide a written indemnity holding the Member harmless for any liability which exceeds that which applies under the Athens Convention in the case of cabin luggage or other luggage.

(D) Provided that in the case of a person other than a close relative of a member of the Crew, the Association has approved the presence of such persons on board… (Rule 29.1 proviso i)
The Member need not seek the prior approval of the Association in order to carry on board close relatives of Crew members. A close relative in this context means the spouse, parent or child of the Crew member and any other person considered by the Association in its discretion to be a close relative. Members are advised to ensure that close relatives of Crew members who are carried on board should provide a written indemnity⁴ which holds the Member harmless in respect of claims to the maximum extent permissible under the applicable law, or, as a minimum, restricts the Member’s exposure to the limit of liability that applies in relation to the injury, illness death of passengers and for the loss of or damage to their personal effects under the Athens Convention.⁵ 

Cover is not available for the Member’s liability to persons other than close relatives of Crew members if the presence of such persons has not been notified to, and approved by, the Association. The Association does not, however, require to be notified of, and to approve, the presence on board, of each and every pilot or coast guard or similar official who comes on board for short periods of time whereas such approval is required in the case of persons who are regularly on board and/or are on board for long periods. In such cases, the Member should ensure that their presence on board is governed by a contract which has been approved by the Association. 

The presence on board of persons other than the close relatives of the Crew for prolonged periods may constitute an alteration of the risk which should be disclosed by the Member to the Association since this may necessitate the payment of additional premium and a failure by the Member so to do may prejudice the Member’s right to cover from the Association.⁶ The Association will weigh the additional risk against the cost, time and administrative burden for both the Member and the Association of providing and receiving notification and approval in each and every case.⁷ 

Cover is available only in respect of the legal liability of the Member and not in respect of expenditure which has been voluntarily incurred unless prior approval has been obtained from the Association. A Member may well be required in practise in the event of injury or illness of a person carried on board to make advances or to provide a financial guarantee in respect of past or future costs of treatment. However, unless this is obligatory under the terms of a contract governing the presence on board of the person concerned, the Member will usually have no such obligation, and cover is not available for any such voluntary payments. Members are advised to check whether the person has travel or other insurances that may cover such expenses and whether cover is available if payment is made in the first instance by the Member.⁸ 

(E) The Association shall cover costs and expenses incurred as a direct consequence of complying with an order for the deportation… (Rule 29.2)
Cover is available for the Member’s liability for costs and expenses incurred as a direct consequence of complying with an order for the deportation of other persons carried on board, subject to the provisos in Rule 27.2 and Rule 28.ii that apply, respectively, to Crew members and passengers. However, whereas the scope of cover is similar, the risk of incurring such liability may be greater in the case of persons other than Crew members or passengers. The close relatives of Crew members should normally be equipped with visas and immigration rights that are the equivalent of those held by the Crew members themselves. However, this may not be possible in the case of repairmen, supercargoes and others carried on board for several port calls since the Member is not likely to be the party who has provided such passes and visas and cannot, therefore, exercise the same level of control as he can in relation to his Crew members. Therefore, the ‘hold harmless’ and indemnity provisions to which reference is made in (C) and (D) above should include a right for the Member to be indemnified by the person, or his employer or principal, should the Member have to pay deportation costs.

1 Other persons may work or attend on board while the Ship is idle in port, at anchor, in dry dock or elsewhere, but are not ’carried on board’, e.g. stevedores, shipyard workers, port state control officers, ship chandlers and other visitors. Cover is available in respect of such persons under Rule 30.
2 See Rule 55.
3 See also the Guidance to Rules 27 and 28.
4 More comprehensive advice regarding which precautions to take in respect of non-fare paying passengers is available on www.gard.no as is a recommended specimen form for such persons to sign.
5 Ibid 8.
6 See Rule 7.2.
7 The Association’s current practice is that prior notification is only required if the Member intends to allow carriage of more than ten non-fare paying passengers on any one voyage.
8 Notwithstanding the above, and as a ’safety net’ should there be no insurance funds to pursue for the Member, and as an ’add-on’ to the standard P&I cover without any additional premium charged, the Association will cover the below mentioned type of expenses voluntarily incurred by Members up to a maximum limit of USD 300,000 per relevant person per voyage, subject to an aggregate limit of USD 1 million per event. The cover is net of the deductible.