This was a damages claim brought by the relatives of four deceased crew members of the beam trawler Margaretha Maria. The deceased were 'share fishers'.The vessel capsized and sank with the loss of all hands in November 1997. The owners contended that they were entitled to limit their liability for claims for loss of life under s 185 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 (UK) (the Act) which enacted the LLMC 1976. If this was correct, their liability would be limited to just under GBP 150,000.
Article 2.1.a of the LLMC 1976 stipulates that limitation of liability applies to claims in respect of loss of life. Article 3.e provides that the Convention does not apply to claims by servants of the shipowner if they are employed based on a contract of service, and under the law governing this contract the shipowner is not entitled to limit its liability in respect of such claims. Section 185(4) of the Act stipulates that the provisions of the LLMC 1976 do not apply to any liability in respect of loss of life or personal injury caused to a person who is on board the ship in question or employed in connection with that ship under a contract of service governed by the law of any part of the United Kingdom. Therefore, the applicability of limitation under the LLMC 1976 depended on whether the deceased fishers were employed under a contract of service or engaged in the joint venture as independent contractors.
In the High Court Aikens J held in favour of the claimants, finding that the owners were not entitled to limit their liability as each of the deceased had been employed under a contract of service. The owners appealed.
Held: The owners' appeal is allowed.
The Court of Appeal found that the fishers in the present case were not employed under contracts of service and therefore held that the owners enjoyed limitation of liability under the LLMC 1976. The Court referred to the following grounds for this conclusion: