ISRAEL Law and Practice Contributed by: Joseph Sprinzak and Rahel Rimon, J.SPRINZAK
that are not subject to limitation of liability are as set out in Article 1(4) of the 1957 Convention. The Israel Shipping (Limitation on a Ship-Own - er’s Liability) (Amendment) Law – 1987 amended the 1965 Law previously referred to by adopting the 1979 Protocol and replacing gold francs with Special Drawing Rights (SDR). Pursuant to the 1979 Protocol, the limitations of liability applica - ble in Israel are SDR66.67 per tonne for cargo claims and SDR206.67 per tonne for personal claims. It should be noted that the Shipping (Limitation on a Ship-Owner’s Liability) (Amendment) Bill, 2015 proposes that Israel adopt the 1976 Con - vention, together with the Protocols of 1996 and 2012. The proposed law intends to allow salvors to limit their liability. 2.4 Procedure and Requirements for Establishing a Limitation Fund Owners can apply to the Admiralty Court to establish a limitation fund, calculated as set out in 2.3 1976 Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims . The Court will give orders as to the ship-owner’s deposit and the manner in which notices will be published to creditors. It should be noted that the Israeli courts accept the deposit of funds in Israeli currency, in a sum determined by the court. However, parties will often agree on the provision of local bank guar - antees and, in some cases, foreign bank guar - antees. Further, as the Israeli Admiralty Court has accepted letters of undertaking issued by P&I clubs as security for the release of vessels from arrest (in essence, in a manner similar to the position taken in the English case Atlantik Confidence [2014] 1 Lloyd’s Rep 586), it seems likely that they would follow the same approach
and accept letters of undertaking issued by P&I clubs in lieu of limitation funds. Once a fund is constituted, claims by local creditors must be filed within 30 days, whereas foreign creditors are given 60 days to file their claims. According to Section 9(a) of the Law, constitu - tion of a fund creates a bar to other actions. In an important precedent concerning the estab - lishment of a limitation fund in Israel, the Israeli Admiralty Court has recently held (In Rem File 44990-07-19 Moraz Shipping v Israel Ports Com - pany) that no limitation fund would be approved in cases of marine pollution on the grounds that “the polluter pays”. The Court upheld the Israel Ports Company’s objection to the establishment of the fund, inter alia, because the provisions of the Oil Pollution Prevention Ordinance – 1980 impose an obligation on those convicted of offences under the law to clean up, and after analysing the principles of the International Con - vention on the Limitation of Liability of Owners of Sea-Going Ships 1957 as adopted into Israeli law. 2.5 Seafarers’ Safety and Owners’ Liability Israel is not a party to the MLC 2006, although legislative efforts have been initiated to encour - age the employment of Israeli seamen. Israel has also ratified 49 International Labor Organi - zation Conventions and one Protocol, including all eight Fundamental Conventions. The Tech - nical Conventions include the Placing of Sea - men Convention, 1920 (No 9); Paid Vacations (Seafarers) Convention (Revised), 1949 (No 91); C092 – Accommodation of Crews Convention (Revised), 1949 (No 92); C133 – Accommoda - tion of Crews (Supplementary Provisions) Con -
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