Maritime Transport Act 1994

Liability where 2 or more ships involved

94: Division of loss

You could also call this:

"Sharing the cost of damage when multiple ships are involved in an accident"

When two or more ships are involved in an accident and something is damaged or lost, you need to figure out who is at fault. If it's because of the fault of two or more ships, the people who own the ships have to pay for the damage or loss in proportion to how much each ship was at fault. This means that if one ship was more to blame than the others, its owner will have to pay more.

If it's not possible to work out how much each ship was at fault, the cost of the damage or loss will be split equally between the ships. You should know that a ship will only have to pay for damage or loss that it helped cause.

The rules about dividing up the cost of damage or loss do not change the agreements that people have made in contracts, such as contracts of carriage, or other contracts, and they do not affect any rights that people have under the law, including the right to limit their liability.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

This page was last updated on 25 May 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM336223.

93: Interpretation, or

"What special words mean in this law"

95: Damages for personal injury, or

"Getting compensation if you're hurt on a ship due to someone else's fault"

Part 8Liability where 2 or more ships involved

94Division of loss

Subject to the succeeding provisions of this section, where, by the fault of 2 or more ships, damage or loss is caused to 1 or more of them, or to their cargoes or freight, or to any other property on board, the liability to make good the damage or loss shall be in proportion to the degree to which each ship was at fault.
If, in any case to which subsection (1) applies, it is not possible to establish different degrees of fault, having regard to all the circumstances of the case, the liability shall be apportioned equally.
Nothing in this section shall—
render any ship liable for any loss or damage to which the fault of that ship has not contributed; or
affect the liability of any person under a contract of carriage, or any other contract; or
impose any liability upon any person from which that person is exempted by any contract or by any provision of law; or
affect the right of any person to limit that person’s liability in the manner provided by law.

Compare

1952 No 49 s 469
1987 No 184 s 23