PART III Liability of Pilotage Authorities for Loss or Damage to Vessels or Goods, etc.

Limitation of liability

57 Power of courts to consolidate claims

(1) Where any liability is alleged to have been incurred by a pilotage authority in respect of any loss or damage to which section 55 of this Act applies and several claims are made or apprehended in respect of that liability, then the pilotage authority may apply to the court.

(2) On an application under subsection (1) above, the court may—

(a) determine the amount of liability of the pilotage authority,

(b) distribute that amount rateably among the several claimants,

(c) stay or, in Scotland, sist any proceedings pending in any other court in relation to the same matter,

(d) proceed in such manner and subject to such requirements—

(i) as to making persons interested parties to the proceedings,

(ii) as to the exclusion of any claimants who do not come in within a certain time,

(iii) as to requiring security from the pilotage authority,

(iv) as to the payment of any costs,

as the court thinks just.

(3) In this section, " the court" means—

(a) in England and Wales, the High Court,

(b) in Scotland, the Court of Session,

(c) in Northern Ireland, the High Court.