MSC Flaminia – The Final Word on Limitation The UK Supreme Court confirmed charterers can limit liability to owners under the 1976 Convention. Only specific claims under Article 2.1 are limitable—not general ship repair costs. Articles Voirrey Davies Published: May 01, 2025 Contact author Download article pdf In a landmark ruling from the UK Supreme Court (UKSC) in April 2025, the questions of (1) whether charterers can limit their liability against owners in respect of owners’ own losses; and (2) how widely Article 2 of the 1976 Convention should be interpreted have been definitively answered. Facts On 14 July 2012 the “MSC Flaminia” (the “Vessel”) was en route from South Carolina to Belgium when an explosion occurred in cargo hold number 4. The resulting fire spread rapidly and sadly resulted in the death of three crew members. There was extensive damage to the Vessel and hundreds of containers were destroyed.  MSC had time chartered the Vessel from Owners, Conti. Salvors were engaged and the Vessel was towed to Wilhelmshaven for discharge of the containers. The Vessel was then taken to Romania and Denmark for discharge of the waste and then returned to Romania for repairs, following which the Vessel was redelivered to MSC under the charter.  Conti as Owners incurred significant losses and sought to recover these from MSC. In the initial arbitration action in London, Conti were successfully awarded USD 200 million in respect of damages due to the shipment of dangerous cargo along with outstanding hire.  MSC then sought to limit its liability under the 1976 Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims (the “1976 Convention”) for: Payments to national authorities for preventative measures against pollution. Costs of discharging the sound and damaged cargo and of decontaminating the cargo. Costs of removing firefighting water from the holds. Costs of removing waste from the Vessel. The High Court found MSC had no right to limit liability f