Amendments to Maritime Act of 1990 in Republic of the Marshall Islands

The parliament of the Republic of the Marshall Islands has made amendments to the Maritime Act of 1990. The changes include the acceptance of electronic filings and digital signatures for documents falling under the Maritime Act. The requirement to attach a vessel’s latest Certificate of Registry to a bill of sale has been removed, and mortgages on vessels are now considered valid and effective at the time of recording. The Administrator now has the ability to immediately strike a vessel in certain situations, and the requirements for written proof of debt for mortgage recording have been clarified. Notice of a mortgage must be kept on board the mortgaged vessel instead of a certified copy. The limits of liability for maritime claims have also been updated in line with changes to the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims.

Under the amendments, the Maritime Administrator will now accept electronic or digital transmissions of any document or instrument falling under the Maritime Act, as well as electronic or digital signatures. The requirement to attach a vessel’s latest Certificate of Registry to a bill of sale has been removed, and mortgages on vessels are considered valid and effective at the time of recording. The Administrator now has the ability to immediately strike a vessel in certain situations, and the requirements for written proof of debt for mortgage recording have been clarified. Notice of a mortgage must be kept on board the mortgaged vessel instead of a certified copy. The limits of liability for maritime claims have also been updated in line with changes to the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims.

The amendments to the Maritime Act also include updates to the limits of liability for maritime claims. The new limits of liability for claims relating to the territory or waters of the Republic of the Marshall Islands are as written in the 2012 Amendments to the Protocol of 1996 to Amend the LLMC. The limit of liability for claims of loss of life or personal injury on vessels not exceeding 2,000 gross tonnage has been raised from 2 million Special Drawing Rights (SDR) to 3.02 SDR. There are also raises in the additional amount for each category of larger vessels. The limit of liability for property claims for vessels not exceeding 2,000 gross tons has been raised from 1 million SDR to 1.51 million SDR, with raises in the additional amount for larger vessels as well.

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