English Court of Appeal Determines Who is an ‘Operator’ of a Vessel under the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims 1976

In December 2021, the English Court of Appeal in Splitt Chartering APS & Ors v Saga Shipholding Norway AS & Ors [2021] EWCA Civ 1880 handed down a judgment which provides clarification on the threshold which a claimant is required to meet to be considered an ‘operator’ of a vessel in the context of the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims 1976 (“LLMC 76“) as applicable under English law. The findings of the English Court of Appeal will be persuasive in the Singaporean context, where the LLMC 76 (with the 1996 Protocol) is likewise in force.

Additionally, this judgment highlights the importance of ensuring appropriate contractual arrangements between various business units in a group of companies that collectively manage or operate a vessel. While the purpose of the LLMC 76 is to encourage international trade by sea carriage, what this judgment indicates is also that the courts will be slow to apply an overly broad reading to the categories of parties entitled to limit their liabilities under the LLMC 76.