Belgian Supreme Court rules on definition of (inland) 'vessel' under Belgian law

Recently, the Belgian Supreme Court had to rule on the question of whether a "converted barge intended as a public bathing facility" is, under Belgian law, a vessel (or similar craft) that can invoke the limitation of liability under the LLMC Convention. In its judgment of 5 September 2022, the Court appears to answer this question in the affirmative, ruling that, for the purposes this question, a vessel is to be understood as "any rig that floats and, with or without its own motive power, is capable of being moved on water, even if only sporadically, provided that it is not durably connected to land or soil".

The Court of Appeal ruling that the converted barge intended as a public bathing facility could not be considered a vessel because "it is not exclusively or predominantly intended for navigation on inland waterways" did not justify its decision as per Belgian law.

The case has been referred to the Ghent Court of Appeal.

To be continued.

You can find the ruling per following link.