Whilst the adoption of the 1976 Limitation Convention has brought much clarity to the implementation of limitation rights, it is not a complete code and there are a number of important issues that are not regulated by the Convention and which are left to be determined by the lex loci of the place where the fund is constituted. Article 14: Governing Law, of the Convention specifies that:
“Subject to the provisions of this Chapter the rules relating to the constitution and the distribution of a limitation fund, and all rules of procedure in connection therewith, shall be governed by the law of the State Party in which the fund is constituted”.
In the recent case of As Fortuna Opco BV and another v Sea Consortium Pte Ltd and Others[1] the Singapore High Court has given helpful guidance in relation to two such issues.
- Limitation fund interest
Article 11 of the Convention specifies that a limitation fund should include interest “from the date of the occurrence giving rise to liability until the date of the constitution of the fund” but makes no provision for subsequent interest. This is, presumably, since the fund has traditionally been established by way of deposit and it was assumed that the fund would continue to earn its own interest thereafter in accordance with the law of the country of deposit. However, this assumption has been undermined by the fact that the courts of (at least some) countries[2] are now prepared to allow a limitation fund to be established by the provision of security in the form of a guarantee or P & I letter of undertaking (LOU) if satisfied of the sufficiency of that security[3]. In such circumstances, a fund constituted by a LOU would not automatically earn interest during the period of its currency.
In the As Fortuna Opco case the parties agreed that:
- the LOU should include interest from the date of the incident to the date of the constitution of the fund at the same rate as that which would have applied if the fund had been constituted by payment into court; and that
- provision ought to be made for post-constitution interest where a limitation fund is constituted by way of a guarantee or LOU.
The Convention itself does not specify what rate of interest should apply to the constitution of the fund. Accordingly, the rate is to be determined pursuant to Article 14 in accordance with the law of the place where the fund is constituted. In the case of the UK the relevant rate is that specified by the Secretary of State in the Merchant Shipping (Liability of Shipowners and Others (New Rate of Interest) Order 2004. i.e. one per cent more than the base rate quoted from time to time by the Bank of England. Since there was no equivalent legislation in force in Singapore, the Singapore court held that the pre-constitution interest rate should be that which corresponded to the statutory interest rate on judgement debts in Singapore, namely 5.33%.
However, the parties disagreed regarding the rate of post-constitution interest. The ship owners argued that the rate should approximate that which would actually be earned by a payment into court, which they considered to be 2%. However, the cargo interests argued that a fair interest rate should be that which applied to the pre-constitution period (i.e. 5.33%) since by not making a payment into court, the ship owners would gain an advantage by their ability to benefit from the higher interest rate that the money could probably earn on deposit in the open market.
In determining this issue the court was guided by the fact that article 11.2 of the Convention provides that the guarantee or LOU should be “acceptable under the legislation of the State Party where the fund is constituted and considered to be adequate by the Court or other competent authority” . In considering what is “acceptable” and/or “adequate” the judge held that:
“…it should place the claimants in a position no worse than if the limitation fund had been constituted by payment into court. I therefore considered that an LOU ought to make provision for post-constitution interest at a rate which approximates the interest which could be earned on a limitation fund paid into court during the period that the fund remains in court.”
The court also opined that since the ship owners were entitled under the Convention to establish a limitation fund by the provision of a guarantee or LOU rather than by a payment into court, the court’s role was to ensure that the claimants against the fund should not be in a worse position in such circumstances. However, provided they were not put in a worse position, there was no reason why the court should restrict any benefit that the ship owners might incur as a result of proceeding in this manner. Consequently, having made enquiry as to the rate of interest earned previously on moneys paid into court pursuant to other types of proceedings, held that the appropriate post- constitution interest rate should be 2.5%.
- Limitation proceedings Costs
The fundamental principles relating to the allocation of costs in a limitation action brought under the 1976 Convention were described by Clarke J in the “Captain San Luis”[4] At pages 578-9 of the judgement the judge emphasised the difference that has been brought by Article 4 of the 1076 Convention as follows:
“There is a radical difference between the case where the shipowner must prove that the damage occurred without his actual fault or privity before he is entitled to a decree and the case where the shipowner is entitled to a decree unless the claimant proves either that he intended to causethe loss or that he acted recklessly and with knowledge that damage would probably result.”[5]
He then went on to conclude:
“a fair balance is struck between the parties if it is held that the shipowner must pay the costs of proving those matters which he must prove in order to obtain a decree and that the claimant must pay the costs of investigating and determining the facts which the Convention provides that he must prove if, at the end of the day, he fails to establish those facts.
However, the Captain San Luis was a case in which the shipowner’s right to limit was contested and in the As Fortuna Opco case the Singapore High Court considered allocation of costs in a case in which the right to limit was uncontested. Having distinguished the Captain San Luis on this ground he court made the following detailed order:
36 “In the light of the foregoing discussion, the following principles should apply to costs of uncontested limitation decrees:
(a) The shipowner should pay the claimants’ costs in relation to those matters for which the burden of proof lies on the shipowner. These would include establishing the shipowner’s prima facie right to limit liability pursuant to Arts 1, 2 and 3 of the 1976 Convention and determining the limitation amount pursuant to Arts 6 and 7 of the 1976 Convention. Where an LOU is used to constitute the limitation fund, it will also include establishing the LOU’s adequacy and acceptability.
(b) In respect of matters for which the burden of proof lies on the claimant (eg, facts required to break limitation pursuant to Art 4 of the 1976 Convention), while the claimant is entitled to seek and be given such information as to enable it to decide whether or not to dispute the shipowner’s right to limit its liability, each party should bear its own costs in this regard.
(c) Where an application for discovery is made pursuant to O 70 r 37(6), the costs of such discovery application should follow the event.
(d) The foregoing principles are subject always to costs being in the discretion of the court.
37 For the foregoing reasons, I ordered the Plaintiffs to pay the Defendants’ costs in relation to:(a) the establishment of the Plaintiffs’ prima facie right to limit liability pursuant to Arts 1, 2and 3 of the 1976 Convention;(b) the calculation of the size of the limitation fund; and(c) the consideration of the adequacy and acceptability of the draft LOU”
Such clarification is sensible and welcomed albeit that there may still inevitably be cases in which the demarcation line between the various heads of costs will be blurred.
- The cost of providing the fund
A more complex problem which was not considered in the As Fortuna Opco case arises in relation to the cost of establishing a limitation fund particularly where that fund has to be established in the form of a cash deposit or guarantee.
Article 11 of the Convention provides that:
“Any person alleged to be liable may constitute a fund”
and that
“A fund constituted by one of the persons (that are entitled to limit pursuant to Article 1) or his insurer shall be deemed constituted by all (such) persons…
In most cases the fund will be established by the shipowner since that is the “person” that is most vulnerable to arrest. However, once established, the fund will be available to protect the interest of any of the other “persons” that are entitled to limit pursuant to Article 1. For example, cargo claims may be brought against both ship owners and charterers and charterers may wish to limit their liability by relying on a limitation fund that has been constituted by the ship owners.
David Steel J, observed at first instance in the “CMA Djakarta”[6] that whilst the Convention provides expressly that the limitation fund would protect the “common exposure” of the various parties that were defined under the rubric of “shipowner”:
“no provision is made for allocation of the cost of putting up the fund among the members of the class.”
and again at para 60:
“Not only are questions of responsibility for supplying funds outside the convention…”
Therefore, how is the cost of providing and subsequently administering the fund to be allocated if it is proved in due course that parties other than the “person” that has constituted the fund seek to take advantage of the fund either wholly or partly in order to limit their liability? Since the Convention does not regulate this issue it is presumably to be determined pursuant to article 10 in accordance with the law of the forum, and the answer to the problem may, therefore, differ depending on what that law provides.
If the issue were to be determined in accordance with the law of England and Wales it may be that the most fruitful avenue to follow is the law relating to unjust enrichment. In a nutshell, there is unjust enrichment when one person acquires a benefit at the expense of another in circumstances which are unjust and is required to make restitution to the person that has provided the benefit.
In the case of Benedetti v Sawiris[7] the Supreme Court held that four factors must usually be established in order to establish a case of unjust enrichment, namely:
- the defendant has been enriched; and
- this enrichment is at the claimant’s expense; and
- this enrichment at the claimant’s expense is unjust; and
- there is no applicable bar or defence.
The provision of a limitation Fund that is intended to protect the interests of “persons” other than those of the ship owners is likely to satisfy requirements 1 and 2. However, requirements 3 and 4 may be more difficult to justify. On the one hand, it was held in Owen v Tate[8] and McDonald v Coys of Kensington (Sales) Ltd[9] that the person that has benefitted need not have specifically requested the benefit and it is sufficient that he has freely accepted the benefit.
However, it may be argued that by electing to establish a limitation fund, the ship owners do so fully appreciating and accepting that such a fund will automatically benefit not only them but also all the other “persons” identified in articles 9 and 11.3 of the Convention and that, consequently, although there is enrichment of such “persons”, there is no ”unjust” enrichment. Or, to make the same point differently, it cannot be said that the enrichment is “unjustified” if it is simply a voluntary bestowal of a benefit.
Nevertheless, it is noteworthy in this regard that Scarman LJ said the following in Owen v Tate:
“The fundamental question is whether in the circumstances it was reasonably necessary in the interests of the volunteer or the person for whom the payment was made, or both, that the payment should be made – whether in the circumstances it was “just and reasonable” that a right of reimbursement should arise.”
The underlined words would seem to suggest that there is a case for unjust enrichment even if the relevant voluntary act benefits the volunteer as well as the receiver of the benefit.
The concept that since there is a “common exposure” and a “common interest” of all “persons” that are entitled to limit, such “persons” should share the cost of providing the fund was emphasised by David Steel J at first instance in the “CMA Djakarta”[10]:
“These provisions are only consistent with all those identified as within the class of shipowner having a common potential exposure to the relevant claims and a common interest in funding the limit of liability,…”
Furthermore, given the references to, the “just result” and the “fair balance” for allocating costs that was adopted in the “Captain San Luis”, it would appear that a creditable argument could be raised to satisfy criteria numbers 3 and 4.
[1] (2020) SGHC 72
[2] The Court of Appeal of |England and Wales recognised the sufficiency of a limitation fund established by a P and I letter of undertaking in the case of the “Atlantic Confidence”
[3] For a more detailed commentary see Chapter 10 entitled “Limitation of Liability: Recent important developments in the United Kingdom other common law jurisdictions” of Maritime Liabilities in a Global and Regional Context, Informa 2019
[4] (1993) 2 Lloyd’s Rep 573.
[5] (1993) 2 Lloyd’s Rep 573 at 578-9
[6] (2003) 2 Lloyd’s Rep. 50
[7] (2014) AC 938
[8] (1976) QB 402
[9] (2004) EWCA Civ 47
[10] At paragraph 45
