Caspian Basin Specialised Emergency Salvage Administration and Another v Bouygues Offshore SA and Others ; Ultisol Transport Contractors Ltd v Bouygues Offshore SA and Others

JurisdictionEngland & Wales
JudgeRix J
Judgment Date30 April 1997
CourtQueen's Bench Division (Admiralty)
Date30 April 1997

Admiralty Court, Queen's Bench Division

Before Mr Justice Rix

Caspian Basin Specialised Emergency Salvage Administration and Another
and
Bouygues Offshore SA and Others Ultisol Transport Contractors Ltd v Bouygues Offshore SA and Others

Merchant shipping - limitation of damages - prior fixing of liability not required

Liability need not be fixed before damages limited

It was not necessary for liability to be established or admitted before a limitation action under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 could be commenced, or a declaration of limitation obtained.

Mr Justice Rix so held in the Admiralty Court of the Queen's Bench Division in a reserved judgment, inter alia, granting the plaintiffs' applications for declarations limiting their liability, if any, in connection with the loss of a barge owned by the first defendant, Bouygues Offshore SA.

The barge was being towed to Cape Town, South Africa, pursuant to a charterparty between Bouygues and Ultisol. The tug was owned by Caspian and chartered by Ultisol. The barge was lost off the coast of South Africa.

Bouygues had commenced proceedings against Caspian and Ultisol in South Africa and in England, alleging, inter alia, misrepresentation and claiming damages in excess of £50 million. Both Caspian and Ultisol had commenced limitation actions in England under what became the Merchant Shipping Act 1995, and had made applications for declarations limiting their liability to a limitation fund constituted by Ultisol in the amount of £573,717. Liability had not been admitted or established.

Among the issues raised was whether a declaration of limitation could be obtained without liability first being admitted or established; and whether there was a right to limit in respect of a claim in misrepresentation.

Mr Nicholas Hamblen, QC, for Caspian; Mr Angus Glennie, QC and Miss Clare Ambrose for Ultisol; Mr David Steel, QC and Mr Simon Gault for Bouygues.

MR JUSTICE RIX reviewed the relevant authorities, starting with Hill v AudusENR ((1855) 1 K & J 263), which appeared to establish that the determination of liability was a condition precedent to the commencement of a limitation action.

In his Lordship's judgment no authority survived with unbroken force because the decisions were based on jurisdictional issues which were not now relevant and were pursuant to statutory provisions which were no longer in force.

It was true that among the reasons given in Hill v Audus for the construction placed upon the...

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7 cases
  • Aegean Sea Traders Corporation v Repsol Petroleo SA ('The Aegean Sea') [QBD (Admiralty)]
    • United Kingdom
    • Queen's Bench Division (Admiralty)
    • 7 April 1998
    ...1 QB 123 Breydon Merchant, TheUNK [1992] 1 Ll Rep 373 Caspian Basin Specialised Emergency Salvage Administration v Bouygues Offshore SA [1997] CLC 1463 Compania Naviera Maropan SA v Bowaters Lloyd Pulp & Paper Mills Ltd (“The Stork”)ELR [1955] 2 QB 68 Effort Shipping Co Ltd v Linden Managem......
  • Herceg Novi (Owners) v Ming Galaxy (Owners)
    • United Kingdom
    • Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
    • 16 July 1998
    ...Pte Ltd v BP Shipping LtdUNK [1996] 1 Ll Rep 286 Caspian Basin Specialised Emergency Salvage Administration v Bouygues Offshore SA [1997] CLC 1463 Connelly v RTZ Corp plc [1997] CLC 1357; [1998] AC 854 De Dampierre v de DampierreELR [1988] AC 92 Kapitan Shvetsov, TheUNK [1998] 1 Ll Rep 199 ......
  • Ultisol Transport Contractors Ltd v Bouygues Offshore SA ('The Bos 400')
    • United Kingdom
    • Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
    • 24 July 1998
    ...against orders of Clarke J, Colman J and Timothy Walker J ([1997] CLC 1497) and appeals against two limitation decrees made by Rix J ([1997] CLC 1463). A barge, the Bos 400, owned by a French company, Bouygues, was being towed from the Congo to Cape Town by the tug, Tigr, owned by Caspian a......
  • Seismic Shipping Inc. v Total E & P Uk Plc (The Western Regent)
    • United Kingdom
    • Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
    • 29 July 2005
    ...Iron Co Proprietors v MaclarenENR (1855) 5 HLC 416. Caspian Basin Specialised Emergency Salvage Administration v Bouygues Offshore SA [1997] CLC 1463. DSV Silo und Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH v Owners of the Sennar (The Sennar) (No. 2)WLR [1985] 1 WLR 490. Harding v WealandsUNK [2004] EWCA ......
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