Decision ID: 001029

In April 1999 the 1971 Fund Executive Committee reconsidered the question as to whether or not the subrogated claims by the insurer filed in the limitation proceedings had become time barred vis-à-vis the 1971 Fund. The Chairman noted that the views of the Executive Committee members were divided on the issue. He considered, however, that the views of former Member States should also be taken into consideration, as contributors in those States had paid and would have to pay contributions in respect of the incident, which occurred whilst those States were Parties to the 1971 Fund Convention, and pointed out that the overwhelming majority of the delegations of those States had considered that the claims were not time-barred. The Chairman therefore ruled that on the basis of the combined views of the delegations of the Executive Committee and former Member States there was strong support for the proposal that the notification of the limitation proceedings, which had been made by the Court to the Fund in August 1996, fulfilled the requirements under Article 7.6 in accordance with the procedural requirements of Korean law. For this reason the Chairman declared that the Committee had decided that the subrogated claims of the shipowner’s insurer should be considered as not time-barred.