In December 2022 an inland waterway tanker barge carried a consignment of Acetic Anhydride as well as a consignment of Propionic Acid from Antwerp to Amsterdam. In Amsterdam the cargo had to be discharged into two different shore tanks. Accidently the shore hoses were connected to the wrong ship manifolds. As a result the consignment of Acetic Anhydride was discharged into the shore tank that contained Propionic Acid and vice versa.

Our firm represents the tanker barge’s owners. On behalf of our clients we filed a petition to the Court of Rotterdam in which we requested the Court to allow our clients to limit liability based on the general limitation fund in the meaning of Article 6 CLNI Convention. Cargo interest opposed against the request and argued that a dangerous goods limitation fund had to be set up in the meaning of Article 7 CLNI Convention. In that respect cargo interest argued that if part of the damage is caused by the dangerous nature of the cargo, only one limitation fund can be set up, being the dangerous goods limitation fund.

The Court held in its judgment of 25 March 2024, that if part of the damage is the result of the dangerous nature of the cargo, that in that case for this part of the damage a dangerous goods limitation fund can be set up. For the remaining damages a general limitation fund can be set up. In other words, two different limitation funds can indeed be set as a result of one incident. Further, the Court held that now that in the petition the tanker barge’s owners only requested to be allowed to set up a general limitation fund, they indeed only have to set up a general limitation fund.

The minimum limitation of liability in case of the dangerous goods limitation fund is pursuant to Article 7 Par 1 CLNI Convention SDR 10,000,000. The damages as presented by cargo interested are below this amount. Therefore, there is not point in also setting up a dangerous goods limitation fund.

The result of the above is that in the limitation proceedings cargo interest will have to prove which part of their alleged damages are the result of the dangerous nature of the cargo. If cargo interest succeed in proving this, then for this part of the damages limitation cannot be limited through the general limitation fund. On the other hand, all remaining damages do fall within the general limitation fund.

Should you have any queries regarding the above, then please do not hesitate to contact us.