With the entry into force on 1 December 1976 of the 1976 Convention on the Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims, a need was created for literature explaining not only the provisions of the Convention but also the particular legislative enactments which have implemented them. Recently, two new books with similar titles have been published which address this entry into force in substantially different ways.

The Institute of Maritime Law’s Limitation of Shipowners’ Liability: The New Law is a collection of nine essays examining various aspects of the 1976 Convention (Part A) together with a further 12 essays on national perspectives on the Convention (Part B). Of the nine essays in Part A, five had originally been produced for a one-day conference on the Convention which the Institute held in September 1984. These five essays cover: the scope of limitation actions from an English perspective (Geoffrey Brice); the size and calculation of limitation amounts and how they differ from the 1957 Convention regime (Nicholas Gaskell); the loss of the right to limit liability from an English perspective and how the 1976 Convention alters it (Robert Grime); practice and procedure related to limitation in England and how the 1976 Convention affects it (Richard Shaw); and the insurer’s perspective on limitation (R. C. Seward). To this already impressive collection, the Institute has added four new essays: a very good introductory essay on the 1976 Convention (Erling Selvig); an essay on the complicated issue of the 1976 Convention and international uniformity in limitation (David Jackson); a short but useful essay on the oil pollution limitation (Andrew Dykes); and a short essay on the implementation provisions of the 1976 Convention (Ralph Beddard).

Part B of the Institute’s book, on national perspectives, covers Argentina, France, the GDR, the FRG, Greece, Japan, the Nordic countries, Poland, Spain, the U.K., the U.S. and Yugoslavia. No reason is offered for the inclusion of these countries but not others. Presumably, those countries had commentators who were willing to contribute a national perspective within the deadline set by the Institute. As France, Japan, the Nordic countries, Poland, Spain and the U.K. have all ratified or acceded to the 1976 Convention, those perspectives are of obviously greater interest. Unfortunately, a uniform format was not adopted, causing considerable variation and unevenness in the content and quality of the national perspectives, thereby reducing their collective utility. Nevertheless, useful information is included which may be difficult to obtain elsewhere. Moreover, Alex Parks’ perspective on U.S. law should be mentioned, not only because he very thoroughly summarizes existing U.S. practice, but also because he compares the 1976 Convention with new limitation legislation which is pending in the U.S.

In the preface, Nicholas Gaskell admits that the Institute’s book “does not pretend to be a type of basic A to Z guide” to limitation, although he justifiably predicts that it will be useful to the shipping industry, lawyers, academics and students. Adding to the book’s utility is a very good table of cases with more than 170 entries, and separate detailed tables for British statutes and relevant international conventions. Furthermore, appendices have been added which include: all international conventions relevant to limitation, their status and their adherents; all British legislation relating to limitation; and extracts from the British Merchant Shipping Act 1979, which includes the 1976 Convention in its Schedule 4.