The National Defense Authorization Act has received another amendment with revised language with regard to small passenger vessels and the Limitation of Liability Act.

The revised amendment (SA.6443) would update the Feinstein amendment (SA.5887), by removing the proposed retroactivity back to September 2, 2019 along with the requirement for the Commandant of the Coast Guard to come up with rules for compensation of persons injured by small passenger vessels -- both of which would have been easy targets for legal challenges.

Instead, the latest proposal would simply cut out small passenger vessels from the Limitation of Liability Act altogether.  In addition, this proposed amendment would alter the Limitation of Liability Act by pushing back the ability of other carriers to contractually limit the time period for bringing a claim for personal injury or death, from a minimum of 6 months, to a minimum of 2 years; and the period of time for filing suit from a minimum of 1 year, to a minimum of 2 years.

While no longer clearly targeted to the complaint for limitation of liability action filed by Truth Aquatics (the owners of the former dive excursion vessel CONCEPTION), this is a significant, though somewhat hidden, legislative change for small passenger vessel operators. If the amendment doesn’t change, this will have a significant impact on insurance costs for small passenger vessel operators, including those operating crew boats supporting the developing U.S. offshore wind industry.

*This post was edited on October 17, 2022 to remove references to the Committee Conference.