Foreign-Flagged Vessels Beware

Following the Francis Scott Key Bridge allision on March 26, 2024, two U.S. House of Representatives members introduced the Justice for Victims of Foreign Vessel Accidents Act (Bill), which would retroactively increase the liability for foreign-flagged vessels to up to 10 times the dollar value of the vessel and its cargo. This Bill proposes that the current liability threshold for American-flagged vessels would remain unchanged. Notably, the vessel involved in the bridge allision is a foreign-flagged vessel, and its owners filed a petition with the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland to limit liability for the surrounding damage.

The Limitation of Liability Act of 1851 (Act), 46 U.S. Code § 30523, insulated vessel owners' losses from events beyond their control to the value of the vessel at the conclusion of the voyage plus any freight, no matter the actual damages caused by the accident. The original Act was silent on whether the limitation of