SWEDEN Law and Practice Contributed by: Michele Fara, Ninos Aho, Paula Bäckdén and Anders Leissner, Advokatfirman Vinge KB
4.5 Time Bar for Filing Claims for Damaged or Lost Cargo In the event of loss or damage to cargo that the cargo owner has observed or ought to have observed, the cargo owner must provide the carrier with a notice of claim immediately upon delivery. If the damage or loss is not apparent, a notice of claim must be given within three days from delivery. Claims for compensation regarding loss or damage of cargo become time-barred within one year from the date of delivery. There are possibilities to extend the time limit (for a maximum of ten years), for example through a mutual agreement between the parties, provided that such agreement has been concluded after the claim arose. 5. Maritime Liens and Ship Arrests 5.1 Ship Arrests Sweden is a party to the 1952 International Conven - tion Relating to the Arrest of Sea-Going Ships (the “1952 Arrest Convention”). The provisions of the Con - vention are incorporated into Chapter 4 of the Swed - ish Maritime Code (1994:1009). These rules are appli - cable to the arrest of a vessel with some international aspect (international arrest), and to vessels entered into the Swedish ship registry or an equivalent foreign ship registry. Domestic arrests (ie, arrest of Swedish-flagged ves - sels where the applicant has its habitual residence or principal place of business in Sweden) are regulated by the provisions in Chapter 15 of the Swedish Code of Judicial Procedure (1942:740). 5.2 Maritime Liens Maritime liens are recognised in Sweden (Chapter 3 of the Swedish Maritime Code (1994:1009)). A mari - time lien upon a vessel secures any claim against the operator concerning: • wages and other sums due to the Master or other person employed on board on account of their employment on the vessel;
• port, canal and other waterway dues and pilotage dues; • compensation for personal injury that has occurred in direct connection with the operation of the ves - sel; • compensation for property damage that has occurred in direct connection with the operation of the vessel, provided the claim is not based on contract; and • salvage, remuneration, compensation for removal of a wreck and contribution in general average (where all cargo owners are responsible for the losses of others). Difference Between Maritime Liens and Maritime Claims Swedish law differentiates between maritime liens and maritime claims. As stated in the foregoing, maritime liens are regulated in Chapter 3 of the Swedish Mari - time Code (1994:1009). Maritime claims for which a vessel can be arrested are, on the other hand, regu - lated in Chapter 4 of the Swedish Maritime Code. The code specifies a list of all such maritime claims for which a ship can be arrested. This list corresponds with the list found in Article 1 of the 1952 Arrest Con - vention. The maritime claims that may lead to arrest are claims based on any of the following circumstanc - es: • damage caused by a vessel, in a collision or other - wise; • loss of life or personal injury caused by a vessel or occurring in connection with the operation of a vessel; • salvage; • demise charter agreement; • agreement concerning the carriage of goods on board a vessel on account of a charterparty, bill of lading or any similar document; • loss of or damage to goods, including luggage car - ried in a vessel; • general average; • bottomry; • towage; • pilotage; • delivery of goods or materials for a vessel’s opera - tion or maintenance;
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