This act contains rules covering all areas of maritime law. It applies to all ships registered or required to register in Iceland. The Act contains the following Chapters: I. Scope of the Act, etc.; II. On ship rights; III. About the captain; IV. About freight transport; V. On the carriage of passengers and luggage; VI. About sea damage; VII. About damage from collisions, etc; VIII. About rescue; IX. On the liability of the shipowner and limitation of liability; X. About the limitation fund; XI. About sea lien, etc.; XII. Expiry of sea claims; XIII. About sea trials etc; XV. About penalties and other sanctions; XVI. On membership of the European Economic Area; and XVII. Entry into force and repealed laws. The Ministry of Transport and Local Government shall administer the Act. Among other things, the Act contains specific rules on: the reparation of ships; the protection of property rights and restrictions on a registered ship; obligations, responsibilities and criminal liability of captains; the keeping, preservation and access to ship books; loading and unloading of ships; supplementary rules fo cargo agreements, including loading site, loading time, delays, confirmation, compensation, the execution of the trip, carrier's responsibility for cargo, freight charge, cancellation by the contractor, bill of lading, etc; the transport of passenger and luggage, including responsibility of passengers, limitation of liability, dispute settlement, responsibility of the Icelandic Transport Authority, etc; the application of the York-Antwerp Rules 1974 to all aspects of joint sea damage; the assessment and settlement of joint damage; sea damage compensation; damage from collisions; rescue in the sea, including rescue agreements, seafarers obligations to rescue, rescue payment, dispute resolution, etc.; the shipowners' responsibilities towards others, including their obligation to insure their ships, their liability for claims for life or bodily injury to those employed on the ship's cabin in cases of accidents, limitation of liability, dispute settlement, etc; claims secured by maritime lien on a ship and cargo, etc; specific time limits to lodge claims; etc. The Executive is authorised to issue regulations in the field of maritime law in so far as it is necessary for obligations arising from the Agreement on the European Economic Area.
Iceland · 1985-06-19