Merchant Shipping Act,1958
Act No : 44
Section :
Limitation Fund and consolidation of claims against owners.
352C. Limitation Fund and consolidation of claims against owners. (1) Where any liability is alleged to have been incurred by the owner of a vessel in respect of claims arising out of an occurrence and the aggregate of the claims exceeds or is likely to exceed the limits of liability of the owner under section 352B, then the owner may apply to the High Court for the setting up of a limitation Fund for the total sum representing such limits of liability. (2) The High Court to which the application is made under sub- section (1) may determine the amount of the owner's liability and require him to deposit such amount with the High Court or furnish 566C such security in respect of the amount as in the opinion of the High Court is satisfactory and the amount so deposited or secured shall constitute a limitation Fund for the purposes of the claims referred to in sub-section (1) and shall be utilised only for the payment of such claims. (3) After the Fund has been constituted, no person entitled to claim against it shall be entitled to exercise any right against any other assets of the owner in respect of his claim against the Fund, if that Fund is actually available for the benefit of the claimant. (4) Subject to the provisions of this Part, the High Court may distribute the amount constituting the Fund rateably amongst the several claimants and may stay any proceedings pending in any other court in relation to the same matter and may proceed in such manner and subject to such rules of the High Court as to making persons interested parties to the proceedings, and as to the exclusion of any claims which do not come in within a certain time, and as to requiring security from the owner, and as to payment of any costs, as the High Court thinks fit. (5) Where the owner establishes that he has paid in whole or in part any claim in respect of which he can limit his liability under section 352A, the High Court shall place him in the same position and to the same extent in relation to the Fund as the claimant whose claim he has paid. (6) Where the owner has established that he may at a later date be required to pay in whole or in part, any of the claims under this Part, which could be settled from the Fund, the High Court may notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section order that a sufficient sum may be provisionally set aside for the purpose to enable the owner to enforce his claim against the Fund at a later date in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (4). (7) If the owner is entitled to make a claim against a claimant arising out of the same occurrence, their respective claims shall be set off against each other and the provisions of this Part shall only apply to the balance, if any.
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