Citations
- 410 F. Supp. 2d 1218
Full opinion text
ORDER ON VARIOUS MOTIONS IN LIMINE
MARTINEZ, District Judge.
THIS CAUSE came before the Court upon Defendants’ Motion in Limine to Establish Nigerian Law as Governing Substantive Law on Limitation of Liability (D.E. No. 92), filed on May 24, 2004. The motion has been fully briefed and is ripe for adjudication. For the reasons stated more fully herein, the motion is denied.
As an affirmative defense to Plaintiffs’ complaint, Defendants have plead limitation of liability pursuant to Nigerian Law and the Nigerian Merchant Shipping Act, Cap. 224, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990, (“the Nigerian MSA”). Most maritime nations recognize the right of a shipowner to limit his liability. See generally T. Schoenbaum, Admiralty and Maritime Law § 15-1 (4th ed.2001) (reviewing background of limitation of liability in maritime and admiralty law). In the United States the Limitation of Shipowner’s Liability Act of 1851, 46 App. U.S.C. §§ 181-189 (“U.S. Limitation Act”), permits a shipowner, in the event of a maritime incident, to limit his liability to the post-incident value of the vessel and pending freight. See Maryland Casualty Co. v. Cushing, 347 U.S. 409, 74 S.Ct. 608, 98 L.Ed. 806 (1954). In contrast, under the Nigerian MSA the value of the limitation fund is not based on the value of the vessel and pending freight, but rather is tied to a rate per ton method based on the gross tonnage of the vessel. Specifically, Nigerian law permits the shipowner to limit liability for property damage to the amount of N47.39 (Forty-seven Naira, Thirty-nine Kobo) per ton, or approximately 35.82