Shipping 2026

ISRAEL Law and Practice Contributed by: Joseph Sprinzak and Rahel Rimon, J.SPRINZAK

It should be noted that, as part of the effort to deal with safety problems at sea and on shore arising from incorrect declarations of weight of containers, Israel has taken steps through its Port Regulations to ensure the reliability of weights of containers by scrutinising the SOLAS VGM (Verified Gross Mass) declarations issued by shippers, as well as the weighing of all trucks entering the port. 4.5 Time Bar for Filing Claims for Damaged or Lost Cargo Israel has adopted the Hague-Visby Rules by virtue of the Carriage of Goods by Sea Ordinance 1926, as amended in 1992. In accordance with these Rules, the limitation period for filing a claim against a maritime carrier for damage/shortage of cargo is one year from the date of arrival of the cargo at its destination or from the date the cargo was due to reach its destina - tion. This limitation period also applies to subrogation claims brought by insurance companies. As noted, Israel has incorporated the Hague-Visby Rules into its law. In accordance with Article III 6 of the Rules, subject to paragraph 6 bis, the carrier and the vessel shall in any event be discharged from all liabil - ity whatsoever in respect of the goods, unless suit is brought within one year of their delivery or of the date when they should have been delivered. According to Israeli case law, the time bar is not merely a proce - dural matter but a substantive right, and the limitation period may therefore only be extended if the parties agree to this voluntarily. It will be recalled that Article 6 bis provides that an action for indemnity against a third person may be brought, even after the expiry of a year, if brought within the time allowed by the law of the court seized of the case; however, the time allowed shall be not less than three months, commencing from the day when the person bringing such an action for indemnity has settled the claim or has been served with process in the action against themselves. In the Supreme Court case ALA 9444/00 Bellina Mari- time SA Monrovia v Menorah Insurance Co Ltd , the Court held that a subrogated insurer cannot benefit from the provisions of Article III 6A of the Rules (name -

ly, the provision that forms an exception to the short prescription period of one year set out in Article III 6).

5. Maritime Liens and Ship Arrests 5.1 Ship Arrests Israel is not a party to either the 1952 or the 1999 Arrest Conventions. For historical reasons, the juris - diction of the Israeli Admiralty Court is equivalent to that applied by the English High Court of Admiralty in 1890. Similarly, the admiralty practice is that set out in the Vice-Admiralty Rules of 1883. It is to be noted that the Admiralty Court’s material jurisdiction under the English Admiralty Courts Acts is fairly limited. Thus, in a recent case (In Rem File 31813-10-22 Vos Prince ) the Israeli Admiralty Court held that prima facie a dispute over the validity of a sale agreement for a vessel does not fall within the Court’s jurisdiction to deal with causes for possession. 5.2 Maritime Liens The Shipping (Vessels) Law – 1960, Section 40 deals inter alia with debts to be secured by a first lien (on the vessel, freight and accessories). Section 41 lists the type of debts that are capable of being secured as a maritime lien and the order of priority amongst the liens. The Law does not expressly refer to the position under the Admiralty Courts Acts, although it does retain existing legislation concerning the creation or transfer of a mortgage or charge upon a vessel. It is accepted that the creation of these statutory liens also confers complementary jurisdiction in rem on the Admiralty Court, but the Court has not yet dealt with the issue of the ranking of priorities in the event of a conflict between the provisions of Section 41 of the Shipping (Vessels) Law and accepted principles of general admiralty law. In any event, Section 41 sets out the debts in the following order of priorities: • expenses of judicial sale; • pilotage and port fees; • expenses of guarding and maintaining the vessel; • Master and crew wages; • salvage;

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