The international legal framework relating to the entitlement of shipowners to limit their liability for maritime claims has been established by the entry into force of the 1976 Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims
Members will recall that substantial increases in the liability limits set by the 1976 London Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims (LLMC) as amended by the 1996 LLMC Protocol, were agreed by the IMO Legal Committee in 2012.
The Limits of liability under the original LLMC 1996 protocol have been increased by 51% prompted by a number of high profile bunker pollution incidents, notably the Pacific Adventurer incident of Queensland, Australia in 2009.
