Ms Davis, the claimant, initiated legal action against Stena, the defendant, on behalf of Mr Davis' dependants and estate. Mr Davis had fallen overboard the 'roll-on-roll-off' ferry, the Koningin Beatrix, while it was en route from Ireland to England, resulting in his drowning. The Koningin Beatrix was under the ownership and operation of the defendant carrier throughout the relevant period.

Held: Judgment for the claimant.

The Court noted that travel by ferry from the Republic of Ireland to the United Kingdom was governed by the Athens Convention 1971 (the Convention), as outlined in Sch 6 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 (UK). The Court deemed certain provisions of the Convention relevant to this case. Article 1.8 provides the definition of 'carriage', covering the period during which passengers and/or their cabin luggage are on board the ship or during embarkation or disembarkation.

Article 3 defines the carrier's liability as follows:

3.1. The carrier is liable for damages resulting from the death or personal injury to a passenger if the incident occurred during carriage, due to the fault or neglect of the carrier, their servants, or agents within their employment.

3.2. The burden of proving that the incident causing loss or damage occurred during carriage, as well as the extent of the loss or damage, rests with the claimant.

3.3. The carrier's fault or neglect shall be presumed in certain circumstances (not applicable here). In other cases, the burden of proving fault or neglect lies with the claimant.  

Despite Mr Davis being in the sea rather than on board the Koningin Beatrix when he died, both parties agreed that his death occurred during the course of carriage as defined in art 1.8 of the Convention. Thus, the claimant could proceed with the claim under art 3, and the defendant carrier could limit its liability under art 7 of the Convention.

Article 6 introduces contributory negligence by stating that if the carrier can prove that the death or personal injury complained of was caused or contributed to by the passenger's fault or neglect, the Court may partially or completely absolve the carrier from liability. In response to the defendant's assertion of Mr Davis contributing to the incident by his fault or negligence, the Court held that the burden of proving contributory negligence under art 6 rested with the defendant. Furthermore, it was insufficient for the defendant to assert that Mr Davis 'must have done something which was reckless or negligent, but we cannot say with any degree of particularity what it was'.

The Court found that Mr Davis' drowning and subsequent death were caused by the defendant's fault and/or negligence.