CARRIAGE OF PASSENGERS BY SEA: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE INTERNATIONAL REGIME.

For a considerable period of time, sea carriers have benefitted from the notion of "freedom of contract" when it comes to contracts concerning carriage of passengers by sea in international voyages. The legal position has changed dramatically when the international community devised a regime (the Convention relating to the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea, also known as the Athens Convention 1974) establishing a minimum degree of protection for passengers. The Athens Convention, amended in 2002, not only applies in jurisdictions which have incorporated it into their legal system but can also be contractually made part of carriage contracts, which is often the case as far as the cruise industry is concerned. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the extent to which the Athens regime serves the needs of passengers in the twenty first century. To this end, problematic aspects of the Athens regime have been identified and evaluated in the light of the solutions adopted in the context of international regimes regulating carriage of passengers by air in international voyages. As a result of this analysis, it is intended: i) to provide guidance to courts in different jurisdictions on how to deal with problematic aspects of the Athens regime; and ii) to offer insights to governments that are not currently parties to the regime but might consider the ratification of the Convention as to potential ambiguities that need to be addressed as part of the implementing legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]