Shipping 2026

BELGIUM Law and Practice Contributed by: André Kegels, Kegels Advocaten

tion of Liability in Inland Navigation (CLNI) or by appli - cation of Belgian regional law. If limitation under the CLNI is not possible Belgian regional law provides a similar possibility of limita - tion. Some reservations were made by some Belgian regions when adhering to the CLNI, in terms of pol - lution and wreck removal, for example. This seems to imply that two separate limitation funds may be required in some circumstances: one for pollution or wreck removal, and one for other liabilities. 3.2 International Conventions: Collision and Salvage It should be noted that the location of the incident, the type of vessels and the persons involved have an influence on the legislation that will apply. Sea-going vessels colliding on the high seas will be subject to different rules from those colliding on internal water - ways. More complex still, there is different legislation for interior barges. Moreover, on rivers and canals, specific rules derogate from the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 (COLREGs). The following conventions and regulations apply in Belgium: • the International Convention for the unification of certain rules of law with respect to collisions between vessels, Brussels, 23 September 1910 (the “1910 Collision Convention”); • the International Convention on certain rules concerning civil jurisdiction in matters of collision, Brussels, 11 May 1952 (the “1952 Brussels Civil Jurisdiction Convention”); • the International Convention for the unification of certain rules relating to penal jurisdiction in mat - ters of collision or other incidents of navigation, Brussels, 10 May 1952 (the “1952 Brussels Penal Jurisdiction Convention”); • the COLREGs; • the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974, as amended (SOLAS) and its annex - es; • EU Regulation 864/2007, 11 July 2007 (“Rome II”); and

• various local navigation regulations regarding the territorial sea, the ports, the rivers, and canals (the “Local Navigation Regulations”). Other provisions may also be relevant, such as: • the International Convention on Standards of Train - ing, Certification and Watch-keeping for Seafarers, 1978; • the International Safety Management Code (the “ISM Code”); and • the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (the “ISPS Code”). If refuge is needed per EU Directive 2002/59 (as amended), the Maritime Salvage and Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) manages the incident for all authori - ties concerned. 3.3 Convention on Limitation of Liability for Limitation of liability in Belgium is determined by the London Convention regime (the “1996 LLMC- Regime”). For sea-going vessels, the following leg - islation applies: • the LLMC Protocol of 1996, dated 2 May 1996 (the “LLMC 1996 Protocol”); and • the 2015 LEG.5 (99) IMO Resolution raising the amounts (the “IMO Resolution”). Domestic legislation (the NBMC) incorporates the LLMC Regime into Belgian law. Non-Sea-Going Vessels Different provisions apply for the limitation of liabil - ity for maritime claims against non-sea-going ves - sels, such as interior barges, including the CLNI and specific provisions for wreck removal and pollution in regional shipping law. Maritime Claims Sea-Going Vessels 3.4 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties The Vienna Convention has been adhered to by Bel - gium. Moreover, the Cour de Cassation (Belgium’s highest civil court) has, when required to interpret an international convention, ruled on numerous occa - sions using similar wording to the Vienna Convention.

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