Section 11: Ships used for commercial purposes

11. Ships used for commercial purposes.___ (1) The succeeding provisions of this section apply to___ (a) Admiralty proceedings; and (b) proceedings on any claim which could be made the subject of Admiralty proceedings. (2) A State is not immune as respects___ (a) an action in rem against a ship belonging to it; or (b) an action in personam for enforcing a claim in connection with such a ship; if, at the time when the cause of action arose, the ship was in use or intended for use for commercial purposes. (3) Where an action in rem is brought against a ship belonging to a State for enforcing a claim in connection with another ship belonging to that State, clause (a) of sub-section (2) does not apply as respects the first-mentioned ship unless, at the time when the cause of action relating to the other ship arose, both ships were in use or intended for use for commercial purposes. (4) A State is not immune as respects,___ (a) an action in rem against a cargo belonging to that State if both the cargo and the ship carrying it were, at the time when the cause of action arose, in use or intended for use for commercial purposes; .or (b) an action in personam for enforcing a claim in connection with such a cargo if the ship carrying it was then in use or intended for use as aforesaid. (5) in the foregoing provisions references to a ship or cargo belonging to a State include references to a ship or cargo in its possession or control or in which it claims an interest; and, subject to sub-section (4), sub-section (2) applies to property other than a ship as it applies to a ship. (6) Sections 5 and 6 do not apply to proceedings of the nature mentioned in sub-section (1) if the State in question is a party to the Brussels Convention and the claim relates to the operation of a ship owned or operated by that State, the carriage of cargo or passengers on any such ship or the carriage of cargo owned by that State on any other ship. Explanation.___ In this section, “Brussels Convention ” means the International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Concerning the Immunity of State-owned Ships signed in Brussels on the tenth day of April 1926, and “ship” includes hovercraft.

Effective date: 1981-01-01

Related sections