ABSTRACT
Belgium is a signatory of the London Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims Convention of 1976. Separately from the issue of liability for the removal of the wrecks and its cargo, the owners are also given the possibility to limit their liability. The pilotage service in Belgian territorial waters and on the River Scheldt is reserved to the government. As the collision happened in Belgian territorial waters it was the Belgian Wrakkenwet which was the applicable statute in relation to the removal obligation. The owners were requested under the Bunkers Convention to remove the bunker oil. On appeal the owners contended that by ordering them to proceed with the removal of the wreck in specie, the lower court had violated the principle of res judicata in the light of the earlier Antwerp decisions permitting them to constitute a limitation fund.
