10 December 2012 TO ALL MEMBERS Dear Sirs Entry into force of the Regulation (EC) No 392/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the Liability of Carriers of Passengers by Sea in the Event of Accidents (the “PLR”) We refer Members to Circular No 5:456 of 24 September 2012 on the PLR, that will apply in all European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) Member States 1 from 31 December 2012. The Regulation essentially gives effect to the key provisions of the Athens Convention Relating to the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea, 1974 as amended by the 2002 Protocol (the “Convention”), together with the 2006 IMO Reservation and Guidelines for Implementation of the Convention covering war risks (the “Guidelines”). As Members have previously been informed, a significant feature of the PLR is that it also extends the provisions of the Convention to certain categories of passenger ships engaged in domestic sea going voyages 2 , unless the Member State or EEA State takes steps to defer application of the Regulation to such voyages. As of 29 November 2012, nine States have now ratified or acceded to the Convention, which will enter into force 12 months after the 10th State has ratified/acceded. The Convention will therefore enter into force after the Regulation takes effect. It remains possible that the Convention will enter into force in the 2013/14 policy year and, when it does so, there will be two distinct and separate regimes (the PLR and Athens Convention) in force and applicable. An update to Members will be issued closer to the time of entry into force of the Convention. Insurance & Certification requirements Circular 5:456 outlined the insurance and certification requirements stemming from the Regulation; the ships covered by the Regulation and the need for ships falling within the scope of the Regulation 1 EU membership is comprised of the 27 States: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. EEA States: Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein. Croatia will accede to the EU on 1 July 2013 and will apply the Regulation from 31/12/2012. The Regulation also applies to Gibraltar and, in terms of French overseas territories, the insurance and certification requirements also apply to Martinique, Guadeloupe, Réunion, French Guyana, the Territory of the Wallis and Futana Islands, French Antarctic Territories, New Caledonia, Mayotte, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy. 2 The Athens Convention 2002 applies only to “international carriage”. Article 1.9 defines international carriage as meaning “any carriage in which, according to the contract of carriage, the place of departure and the place of destination are situated in two different States, or in a single State if, according to the contract of carriage or the scheduled itinerary, there is an intermediate port of call in another State”. - 2 to maintain insurance which meets the requirements of the PLR and to obtain a certificate issued by an EU/EEA Member State attesting that such insurance is in force. Member States will issue one PLR State certificate on receipt of a war risk and a separate non war risk blue card. The State issued certificate must be carried on board at all times. The International Gro