Marginal note:Report to Parliament

44. The Minister shall, before January 1, 2005 and every five years afterwards, consider whether the Hague-Visby Rules should be replaced by the Hamburg Rules and cause a report setting out the results of that consideration to be laid before each House of Parliament.

Marginal note:Effect

• 45. (1) The Hamburg Rules have the force of law in Canada in respect of contracts for the carriage of goods by water between different states as described in Article 2 of those Rules.

• Marginal note:Extended application

  (2) The Hamburg Rules also apply in respect of contracts for the carriage of goods by water from one place in Canada to another place in Canada, either directly or by way of a place outside Canada, unless the contract stipulates that those Rules do not apply.

• Marginal note:Meaning of “Contracting State”

  (3) For the purposes of this section, the expression “Contracting State” in Article 2 of the Hamburg Rules includes Canada and any state that gives the force of law to those Rules without being a Contracting State to the United Nations Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea, 1978.

• Marginal note:References to “sea”

  (4) For the purposes of this section, the word “sea” in the Hamburg Rules shall be read as “water”.

• Marginal note:Signatures

  (5) For the purposes of this section, paragraph 3 of article 14 of the Hamburg Rules applies in respect of the documents referred to in article 18 of those Rules.

Marginal note:Claims not subject to Hamburg Rules

• 46. (1) If a contract for the carriage of goods by water to which the Hamburg Rules do not apply provides for the adjudication or arbitration of claims arising under the contract in a place other than Canada, a claimant may institute judicial or arbitral proceedings in a court or arbitral tribunal in Canada that would be competent to determine the claim if the contract had referred the claim to Canada, where

  • (a) the actual port of loading or discharge, or the intended port of loading or discharge under the contract, is in Canada;

  • (b) the person against whom the claim is made resides or has a place of business, branch or agency in Canada; or

  • (c) the contract was made in Canada.

• Marginal note:Agreement to designate

  (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the parties to a contract referred to in that subsection may, after a claim arises under the contract, designate by agreement the place where the claimant may institute judicial or arbitral proceedings.

Marginal note:Definitions

47. The definitions in this section apply in this Part.

“Administrator”

« administrateur »

“Administrator” means the Administrator of the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund appointed under section 79.

“Civil Liability Convention”

« Convention sur la responsabilité civile »

“Civil Liability Convention” means the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage, concluded at Brussels on November 29, 1969, as amended by the Protocol concluded at London on November 19, 1976 and the Protocol concluded at London on November 27, 1992.

“Convention ship”

« navire assujetti à la Convention »

“Convention ship” means a seagoing ship, wherever registered,

• (a) carrying, in bulk as cargo, crude oil, fuel oil, heavy diesel oil, lubricating oil or any other persistent hydrocarbon mineral oil; or

• (b) on a voyage following any such carriage of such oil, unless it is proved that there is no residue of the oil on board.

“discharge”

« rejet »

“discharge”, in relation to a pollutant, means any discharge of the pollutant that directly or indirectly results in the pollutant entering the water, and includes spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, throwing and dumping.

“Fund Convention”

« Convention sur le Fonds international »

“Fund Convention” means the International Convention on the Establishment of the International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage, concluded at Brussels on December 18, 1971, as amended by the Protocol concluded at London on November 19, 1976 and the Protocol concluded at London on November 27, 1992.

“guarantor”

« garant »

“guarantor” means a guarantor under a contract of liability insurance or other similar security relating to a shipowner’s liability under section 51.

“in bulk”

« en vrac »

“in bulk” means in a hold or tank that is part of the structure of a ship, without any intermediate form of containment.

“International Fund”

« Fonds international »

“International Fund” means the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund established by the Fund Convention.

“Limitation of Liability Convention”

« Convention sur la limitation de responsabilité »

“Limitation of Liability Convention” has the meaning ascribed to the word “Convention” in section 24.

“oil”

« hydro­carbures »

“oil”, except in sections 93 to 99, means oil of any kind or in any form and includes petroleum, fuel oil, sludge, oil refuse and oil mixed with wastes but does not include dredged spoil.

“oil pollution damage”

« dommages dus à la pollution par les hydrocarbures »

“oil pollution damage”, in relation to any ship, means loss or damage outside the ship caused by contamination resulting from the discharge of oil from the ship.

“owner”

« propriétaire »

“owner” means

• (a) in relation to a Convention ship, the person who is registered as the owner of the ship or, if no person is so registered,

  • (i) the person who owns the ship, or

  • (ii) if the ship is owned by a state and operated by a company that is registered as the ship’s operator in that state, that company; or

• (b) in relation to any other ship, the person who has for the time being, either by law or by contract, the rights of the owner of the ship with respect to its possession and use.

“pollutant”

« polluant »

“pollutant” means

• (a) a substance that, if added to any waters, would degrade or alter or form part of a process of degradation or alteration of the quality of the waters to an extent that is detrimental to their use by humans or by an animal or plant that is useful to humans; and

• (b) any water that contains a substance in such a quantity or concentration, or that has been so treated, processed or changed, by heat or other means, from a natural state that it would, if added to any waters, degrade or alter or form part of a process of degradation or alteration of the quality of the waters to an extent that is detrimental to their use by humans or by an animal or plant that is useful to humans,

and includes oil and any substance or class of substances identified by the regulations as a pollutant for the purposes of this Part.

“pollution damage”

« dommages dus à la pollution »

“pollution damage”, in relation to any ship, means loss or damage outside the ship caused by contamination resulting from the discharge of a pollutant from the ship.

“ship”

« navire »

“ship” means any vessel or craft designed, used or capable of being used solely or partly for navigation, without regard to method or lack of propulsion, and includes

• (a) a ship in the process of construction from the time that it is capable of floating; and

• (b) a ship that has been stranded, wrecked or sunk and any part of a ship that has broken up.

“Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund”

« Caisse d’indemnisation »

“Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund” means the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund established by section 77.