Home Content Addenda Convention
for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to
Assistance and Salvage of Aircraft or by Aircraft at Sea,
Brussels, September 1938*
ARTICLE 1
The High Contracting Parties agree to take the necessary measures to give effect to the rules established by this Convention.
ARTICLE 2
(1) Every person exercising the functions of commander on board an aircraft is bound to render assistance to everybody who is at sea in danger of being lost, in so far as he can do so without serious danger to the aircraft, its crew, its passengers, or other persons.
(2) Every master of a vessel is bound, subject to the conditions stated in paragraph (1), and without prejudice to any more extended obligations imposed upon him by laws and conventions in force, to render assistance to everybody who is at sea in danger of being lost in an aircraft or as the consequence of accident to an aircraft.
(3) For the purposes of this convention, assistance means any help which may be given to a person at sea in danger of being lost, even by the mere giving of information, regard being had to the different conditions governing maritime navigation and air navigation.
(4) The obligation of assistance shall exist only when the aircraft or the vessel is in the course of a voyage or ready to depart, and only if it is reasonably possible for it to render useful aid.
(5) The obligation of assistance ceases when the person bound thereby has knowledge that assistance is being rendered by others under similar or better conditions than it could be by himself.
(6) The national legislations shall determine the measures necessary to give effect to this undertaking and the High Contracting Parties will communicate to one another, through diplomatic channels, the texts of such laws.
(7) No liability shall rest with the owner or the manager of the vessel or with the owner or operator of the aircraft, as such, by reason of contravention of the foregoing provision except in the case where he has expressly forbidden its observance.
ARTICLE 3
(1) Assistance rendered pursuant to the obligation defined in the preceding article gives a right to an indemnity in respect of expenses justified by the circumstances and of losses suffered in the course of the operations.
(2) If the assistance was rendered in the absence of any obligation to do so, the person rendering it shall have no right to indemnity unless he has obtained a useful result by saving persons or by contributing thereto.
(3) The indemnity shall be payable by the operator of the aircraft assisted, or by the owner or manager of the vessel assisted and in the latter case in accordance with the national law or any contracts relating to such vessel.
(4) The indemnity shall not exceed the sum of 50,000 francs for each person saved, or a total sum of fifty thousand francs if no rescue has been effected.
In any case, the obligation of the aircraft operator shall be limited to the sum of 500,000 francs.The sums fixed in this paragraph shall be deemed to refer to the gold franc containing 65 ½ milligrams of gold of a standard of fineness of 900/1,000. These sums may be converted into any national currency in round figures.
Furthermore, the owner or manager of the vessel shall not be liable beyond the limits fixed by the laws and conventions in force with respect to his liability for maritime salvage.
(5) (a) Where assistance has been rendered by several vessels or aircraft, and the total sum of the indemnities due exceeds the limit fixed in the foregoing paragraph (4), a proportional reduction of the indemnities shall be made.
(b) The persons who have rendered assistance must in such case take action to enforce their rights or give notice of their claims to the party who is bound to pay the indemnity within a maximum period of six months from the day of the assistance.
(c) When this period has expired, the payment of the indemnities may be proceeded with; parties who have allowed this period to expire without taking action to enforce their rights or giving notice of their claims may not exercise their rights except in respect of any balance which may not have been distributed.
ARTICLE 4
(1) In case of salvage of an aircraft at sea in danger of being lost or of the property on board the same, a salvor by vessel or aircraft shall be entitled to remuneration assessed on the basis of the following considerations:
(a) first, the measure of success obtained, the efforts and the deserts of the salvors, the danger run by the salved aircraft, its passengers, crew and cargo, by the salvors and by the salving aircraft or vessel, the time expended, the expenses incurred and losses suffered, and the risks of liability and other risks run by the salvors, and also the value of the property exposed to such risks, due regard being had, the case arising, to the special adaptation, if any, of the salvor’s equipment;
(b) Second, the value of the property salved.
(2) No remuneration is due if the services rendered have no beneficial result.
(3) In no case shall the sum to be paid exceed the value of the property salved at the conclusion of the operations of salvage.
(4) Remuneration is due notwithstanding that the aircraft or the vessels belong to the same operator or to the same owner or manager.
(5) In case of salvage by several vessels or aircraft, the remuneration shall be divided among the salvors on the basis established in paragraph (1) of this article.
(6) The same rules shall apply in case of salvage at sea by an aircraft of a vessel in danger or its cargo, in which case the owner or manager of the vessel shall retain the right to avail himself of the limitation of his liability as determined by laws and conventions in force governing maritime salvage.
ARTICLE 5
In case indemnities and remuneration are payable by reason of Article 3 and 4 of this Convention, there shall be an equitable apportionment, upon the bases and within the limits of the said articles, of the expenses incurred and the losses suffered.
ARTICLE 6
The apportionment of the remuneration among the operator and other persons in the service of each salving aircraft is determined by the law of the flag.
ARTICLE 7
In case of assistance to persons together with salvage of property, the salvors of human life are entitled to a fair share of the remuneration awarded for the salvage of property, without prejudice to the right to indemnity which they acquire under Article 3.
ARTICLE 8
(1) No indemnity or remuneration is payable if the assistance was rendered or salvage effected in spite of the express and reasonable prohibition on the part of the vessel or aircraft to which services were rendered.
(2) The court may reduce or deny the indemnity or the remuneration if it appears that the salvors have, by their fault, rendered the salvage or assistance necessary, or increased the loss, or have been guilty of theft, receiving stolen goods, or other acts of fraud.
ARTICLE 9
(1) The remuneration due for the operations of salvage shall be payable by the operator of the salved aircraft, or by the owner or manager of the salved vessel and in the latter case in accordance with the national laws or with contracts relating to such vessel.
(2) The operator of the aircraft has a right of recourse against the owners of goods for such part of the remuneration as pertains to the salvage of such goods; provided that such recourse shall be denied or reduced if it appears that the salvage of the goods has been rendered necessary by an act of the operator of such a nature as to render him responsible to the owners of such goods.
(3) The owner of the goods may, in every case, on payment of that part of the remuneration which relates to the salvage of his goods, or on giving goods security for its payment, obtain delivery of the goods by the operator and the vacation of any arrest which may have been effected.
(4) The recourse of the owner or of the manager of the vessel against owners of goods remains subject to maritime rules.
ARTICLE 10
Neither the personal effects or baggage of the crew or passengers, nor articles transported under the regime of postal conventions or of agreements relating to the postal service, are included in the property, either for the purposed of calculating the remuneration or in respect of the recourse to be exercised.
ARTICLE 11
(1) Indemnity and remuneration actions must be brought within two years from the day on which the operations of assistance or salvage are terminated.
(2) The recourse of the operator against the owners of goods is limited to one year from the date of the payment of the remuneration for salvage.
(3) The method of calculating the period of limitation, as well as the grounds upon which the said period of limitation may be suspended or interrupted, are determined by the law of the court where the case is tried.
ARTICLE 12
Every agreement as to assistance or salvage entered into at the moment and under the influence of danger can, at the request of either party, be annulled or modified by the court if it considers that the conditions agreed upon are not equitable, and in an excessive degree too large or too small in proportion to the services rendered.
ARTICLE 13
(1) Actions for indemnity or remuneration may be brought at the option of the plaintiff and in conformity with the rules of procedure and jurisdiction of each State, either before the judicial authorities of the defendant’s domicile, or before those of the place where the operations of salvage were effected, or if there has been an attachment of the aircraft or of the cargo, before the judicial authorities of the place of such attachment.
(2) If different salvors bring actions before courts situated in different countries, the defendant may, before each of them, put in a statement of the total amount of the claims made upon him, with a view to preventing the limits of his liability being exceeded.
ARTICLE 14
Any person who has the right of disposal of, and who uses the aircraft for his own account shall be termed “operator of the aircraft”.
It the name of the operator is not inscribed in the aeronautical register or on some other official document, the owner is deemed to be the operator until proof to the contrary.ARTICLE 15
Any person who, without having the right to dispose of the aircraft, makes use of it without the consent of the operator, shall be liable for the indemnities and remuneration, and the operator who has not taken the proper measures to avoid the unlawful use of his aircraft shall be liable jointly and severally with him, each of them being bound on the conditions and within the limits provided for in the foregoing articles.
ARTICLE 16
With the exception of the provisions of Article 13 relative to jurisdiction, this Convention shall apply to government vessels and aircraft, other than military, customs and police vessels or aircraft, to which the rights and obligations resulting from the foregoing provisions do not apply.
ARTICLE 17
(1) The provisions of the present Convention shall be applied as regards all the persons interested when either the assisting or salving vessel or aircraft, or the vessel or aircraft assisted or salved, is registered in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties.
(2) The expression “Territory of a High Contrac-ting Party” includes every territory subject to the Sovereignty, Suzerainty, Protectorate, Mandate or authority of that High Contracting Party in respect of which the latter is a party to the Convention.
(3) Provided, however:
(a) That as regards interested persons who are nationals of a non-contracting State, the application of the above provisions may be made subject by each of the contracting States to the condition of reciprocity;
(b) That where all the interested persons are nationals of the same State as that of the court trying the case, the Convention shall not be applicable;
(c) That in a case where both vessels and aircraft are engaged in the same operation of assistance, this Convention shall not apply to relations between the vessels.
* P. Martin & E. Martin, Showcross and Beaumont AIR LAW, 4th ed., vol. 2 (London: Butherworth, 1977-1991). The Convention is not in force. Mexico is the only ratifying StateBack
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