Maritime claim time bar almost leaves claimant in hot water

As shipping sector participants will be aware, maritime claims often have shorter statutory time limits to other claims in, for example, contract or common law. As an example, international liability conventions, such as the Hague Rules and Hague-Visby Rules, have one-year time limits on claims. Parties, or their advisors, who fail to take note of these time limits or otherwise do not request any necessary extensions, may be left without a course for recovery.

This is what happened in the case of Newcastle Port Corporation trading as Port Authority of NSW v Svitzer Australia Pty Ltd [2022] NSWDC 217. In this case, the plaintiff's solicitor was under the misapprehension that a maritime claim arising from a collision was subject to Australia's general six-year limitation period under section 14 of the Limitation Act 1969 (NSW) (Act) and comparable provisions in other Australian jurisdictions, and failed to issue proceedings in time. The plaintiff was then forced to