USA Law and Practice Contributed by: Seward & Kissel LLP, Seward & Kissel LLP
2.4 Procedure and Requirements for Establishing a Limitation Fund Procedurally, a vessel-owner’s action for limita - tion must be commenced within six months of the owner being given adequate written notice of a claim, whether or not a claimant has initiated a legal proceeding. Deposit of the fund is required, and disputes may arise with respect to valuation (ie, whether the deposit represents the value of the vessel). 2.5 Seafarers’ Safety and Owners’ Liability The USA is not a party to the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), but the US Coast Guard has established a voluntary inspection programme for vessel owners/operators who seek to docu - ment compliance with the standards set out in the MLC. US-flagged commercial vessels that operate on international routes to ports of coun - tries that have ratified the MLC are encouraged to participate, given that such vessels may be subject to port state control actions when oper - ating in the port of a ratifying nation. US shipping laws and regulations provide pro - tections, including (among others) under: • the Occupational Safety and Health Act (29 USC Chapter 15); • the requirement to establish safety manage - ment systems on board vessels; and • associated regulations (eg, 46 USC Chapter 33 and 33 CFR Part 96). Although US-flagged vessels are not subject to the MLC, there is an amalgam of common-law and statutory remedies available to seafarers, such as regarding: • maintenance and cure;
tional Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 (COLREGs). The US Departments of Defense and Commerce, as well as the US Coast Guard within the Department of Home - land Security, publish regulations to ensure US compliance with COLREGs. As for salvage, the United States has adopted the International Convention on Salvage, 1989. Courts have noted the parallels between the 1989 Salvage Convention and pre-existing gen - eral maritime law, and continue to look to appli - cable maritime law principles in those cases. 2.3 1976 Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims The USA is not a party to the 1976 Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims, and continues to apply the Limitation of Liability Act (the “Limitation Act”), passed in 1851 to encour - age investment in shipping. The Limitation Act permits vessel-owners (including demise char - terers) to limit their liability to the value of the vessel and pending freight in certain circum - stances where the loss occurred without the privity or knowledge of the owner. The Limitation Act may be applied to a wide vari - ety of claims but is not generally favoured by the courts, and there are different limits in cases of personal injury and death, pollution liabilities, wage claims and others. Limitation may also apply to claims brought by the US government. Since December 2022, amendments to the Limi - tation Act now exclude “covered small passen - ger vessels” from receiving the benefits of limita - tion, and extend the minimum limitations period for giving notice of or filing claims for personal injury or death from six months to two years.
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