ABSTRACT
Historically, for 250 years, limitation of shipowners’ liability for maritime claims has been designed to encourage and protect trade. It encourages shipowners to stay in business and their insurers to be able to insure risks for liability to third parties, which would, otherwise, be uninsurable.1 Limitation of liability is not a matter of justice, but of public policy which has its origin in history and its justification in convenience.2 It is regulated by separate regimes of limitation implemented by international conventions.
