On 24 July 1995, a German resident was carried as a passenger by a Greek-flagged passenger ship from the port of Angona, Italy, to the port of Patras, Greece, under a contract of carriage by sea concluded with the defendant, the owner of the ship. He fell on the deck of the ship and as a result of this accident suffered physical injuries due to the fault of the defendant and its servants, crew members.

The claimant initiated a legal action dated 6 April 1998 against the defendant. He claimed GRD 9,000,000 for physical injuries and an additional GRD 6,000,000 as compensation for the non-pecuniary damage suffered as a result of his injuries. The Court of Appeal held that the action was time-barred and rejected the claim. The claimant appealed to the Supreme Court.

Held: The appeal is dismissed.

The Supreme Court reviewed the Court of Appeal decision in the light of arts 1.9, 2.1, 2.1.a, 2.1.b, 2.1.c, 3.1, 14, 16.1, 16.2.a, and 16.3 of the Athens Convention 1974 and concluded the following:

The Athens Convention 1974 was ratified by Law 1922/1991, and has the force laid down in Article 28.1 of the Constitution.

It follows from the combination of the above provisions that any claim brought by a passenger in international carriage by sea against the carrier for compensation for their damage (whether pecuniary or non-pecuniary) resulting from personal injury sustained, provided that the event giving rise to such damage occurred during the carriage and was due to the fault of the carrier, its servants or agents, shall be exercised exclusively in the manner provided for in the international Convention. And it shall be time-barred after the expiry of two years from the date of the passenger's disembarkation, irrespective of the basis of such right in the contract of carriage by sea or in tort.

The contrary view, according to which the above-mentioned short limitation period applies only to the contractual and not to the non-contractual liability of the carrier, which is governed by the applicable law of the court seized of the case, is not based on the above-mentioned provisions. In particular, on arts 16.1 and 16.3 of the Convention. The first provides generally and without distinction that 'any action for damages arising out of ... personal injury to a passenger ... shall be time-barred after two years', while the second expressly provides that only the suspension and interruption of the limitation periods is governed by the applicable law of the court seized of the case. Moreover, if that was not the case, it would undermine the purpose for which the Convention, in seeking to unify the rules relating to the liability of the carrier by sea, established the above-mentioned short limitation period for the legal relationship in question.

The Court of Appeal held that the claimant's claim, whether based on the contract of carriage or on tort, is governed by the Athens Convention 1974, because two of the conditions for its application are met (Greek flag of the ship performing the carriage and its destination, the Greek port of Patras) and is not subject to the five-year limitation period of art 937.1 of the Civil Code. Irt is subject to the two-year limitation period under arts 16.1 and 16.2.a of the Convention which has been completed, since a period of more than two years elapsed between the claimant's disembarkation (24 July 1995) and the service of the action as described above (22 April 1998).

In so holding, the Court of Appeal did not, in accordance with the foregoing, infringe the above-mentioned provisions of substantive law and provided sufficient reasons which make it possible to review the correct application or non-application of the law on appeal.

The sole ground of appeal is unfounded and must be rejected. Dismisses the appeal against decision 181/2001 of the Court of Appeal of Piraeus.