Holyhead Marina Ltd v Farrer and Others (Emma): AdCt 7 Jul 2020

Moorings in harbour were dock – limited liability

Several small vessels were moored in a marina, secured to floating pontoons. They were damaged in a bad storm. The claimants operated the marina under a lease, and now sought a declaration so as to limit their liability under s191 of the 1995 Act. The defendants said that the marina was not a dock within section 191(9).
Held: The court struck out the defence that the marina was not a dock. A dock is an enclosed space affording protection from the sea, and a place where passengers and goods could be transferred. While the dock itself did not meet that provision, the pontoons provided for mooring did. The section was created to allow dock owners to limit liability for damage to a vessels. This was balanced out by allowing vessel owners to limit their own liability to dock owners for damage which they might cause.

Teare J
[2020] EWHC 1750 (Admlty), [2020] WLR(D) 395
Bailii, WLRD
Merchant Shipping Act 1995 191
England and Wales
Cited by:
Appeal fromHolyhead Marina Ltd v Farrer (Storm Emma) CA 3-Nov-2021
Provision allowing dock owners to limit liability for loss or damage to vessel- Definition of ‘dock’ including ‘stages, landing places and jetties’ . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Transport

Updated: 21 December 2021; Ref: scu.653116