On 24 August 2009, a passenger on a Greek-flagged passenger ferry AJ travelling from Andros to Rafina in Greece was injured by slipping on the wet floor. She initiated legal proceedings against the shipowner and chief steward, claiming loss due to her medical expenses, loss of her income, and non-material damage.

The Court of First Instance partially accepted the claim and decided that the liability of the defendants was 70% and the liability of the claimant was 30%, awarding a partial amount of the claim for loss and non-material damage.

Both parties appealed the decision.

Held: The appeals are dismissed.

The national carriage of passengers by sea is regulated by the Athens Convention 2002, which is incorporated by national law and European law, and by the IMO Reservations and Guidelines for the Application of the Athens Convention.

The Athens Convention 2002 refers to the contractual carrier in art 1.1.a and performing carrier in art 1.1.b. The predominant element in the case of the contractual carrier is the conclusion of a contract of carriage with the passenger, whereas the predominant element of the performing carrier is the actual fact of the performance of the carriage. The performing carrier may be defined as a person other than the contractual carrier (being the owner, charterer, or manager of the ship) who performs all or part of the carriage on behalf of the contractual carrier. That person, therefore, performs the contract of carriage agreed between the contractual carrier and the passenger, which is evidenced by the issue of the ticket. The term owner-operator is included in the persons listed as performing carriers, but in national law, there is a distinction between the ownership/operation, ownership, and management of the vessel. Ownership/operation means the coexistence of the ownership and the management, whereas when these two elements are separated, there is only ownership or management.

Furthermore, arts 3.1.a, 3.1.b, 3.2, 3.3, 3.5.a, 3.5.b, 3.5.c, 3.5.d, 3.6, 4.1, 4.2, 7.1, and 14 of the Athens Convention 2002 lead to the following conclusions:

1) Both the contractual and actual carrier are jointly and severally liable either for the whole of the carriage when it is performed by the actual carrier or for the part performed by the latter;

2) The liability of the contractual carrier extends to the acts or omissions of both the actual carrier, performing the whole or part of the carriage, and those of its servants or agents, provided that they acted within the scope of the duties entrusted to them;

3) The covered loss resulting from the death or personal injury of the passenger is not specified in the Convention. Moreover, the broad wording of art 3.1 of the Convention regarding the recoverable loss resulting from personal injury, which in the original English text is rendered with the terms 'for the loss suffered as a result of ... personal injury' leads to the conclusion that the international legislator meant to include under the term 'personal injury to a passenger' any loss resulting from such injury - thus the term extends to loss suffered as a result of the passenger's mental injury, whether it is related to, or independent of, the passenger's physical injury;

4) The carrier's liability for loss suffered as a result of death or bodily injury of a passenger due to a 'shipping incident' is objective, up to a maximum of 250,000 SDRs in each individual case of a passenger, unless the carrier proves that the incident was caused by one of the reasons listed in arts 3.1.a and 3.1.b. To the extent that the loss exceeds 250,000 SDRs and up to the maximum liability limit of 400,000 SDRs, the carrier's liability is subjective, with a presumption of fault on its part and therefore, in order to be relieved of liability, it must plead and prove that the event which caused the damage was not due to its own fault or negligence;

5) The carrier's liability for loss suffered as a result of the death or personal injury of a passenger due to a maritime personal accident, ie not caused by a 'shipping incident', is genuinely subjective and the passenger claimant must plead and prove the carrier's fault. If the carrier proves that the passenger's fault or negligence caused or contributed to their death or personal injury, the court hearing the case may relieve the carrier in whole or in part of its liability;

6) Since art 14 prevents another basis for claims under the Convention, the distinction between contractual and tortious liability is meaningless. Consequently, the limitation of the amount of total liability applies to claims which may arise from breach of contract, tort, recourse, or any cause whatsoever, as long as they arise from 'loss of life or personal injury', which includes claims relating to both physical and mental injury to the passenger; and

7) In any case, whether contractual or non-contractual liability is involved, the legal relationship between the passenger and the carrier are governed by the international rules and limits of liability contained in the Convention, the application of which, according to European law, extends to inland maritime carriage.

In accordance with arts 3.2, 4.1, 4.2, 7.1, and 9.1 of the Athens Convention 2002, the Court of First Instance, which ruled similarly and awarded EUR 10,747.70 in compensation, did not err in its interpretation and application of the law and correctly assessed the evidence, and neither infringed the principle of proportionality nor exceeded the limits of its discretionary power in determining the amount of the financial compensation awarded.