46 U.S.C. § 30511
Section 30511 · Action by owner for limitation
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 52 court decisions — leading case Tandon v. Captain's Cove Marina of Bridgeport, Inc. (2014)
Most recently applied in Wooley v. N&W Marine Towing (January 2024)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) In General.—The owner of a vessel may bring a civil action in a district court of the United States for limitation of liability under this chapter. The action must be brought within 6 months after a claimant gives the owner written notice of a claim.
(b) Creation of Fund.—When the action is brought, the owner (at the owner's option) shall—
(1) deposit with the court, for the benefit of claimants—
(A) an amount equal to the value of the owner's interest in the vessel and pending freight, or approved security; and
(B) an amount, or approved security, that the court may fix from time to time as necessary to carry out this chapter; or
(2) transfer to a trustee appointed by the court, for the benefit of claimants—
(A) the owner's interest in the vessel and pending freight; and
(B) an amount, or approved security, that the court may fix from time to time as necessary to carry out this chapter.
(c) Cessation of Other Actions.—When an action has been brought under this section and the owner has complied with subsection (b), all claims and proceedings against the owner related to the matter in question shall cease.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 30511 46 App.:185. R.S. §4285; June 5, 1936, ch. 521, §3, 49 Stat. 1480. In subsection (a), the words “bring a civil action . . . in a district court of the United States” are substituted for “petition a district court of the United States” for consistency in the revised title and with other titles of the United States Code. See rule 2 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (28 App. U.S.C.). The words “of competent jurisdiction” are omitted as unnecessary.
In subsection (b), the word “pending” before “freight” is added for consistency in the chapter. The words “to carry out this chapter” are substituted for “to carry out the provisions of section 183 of this Appendix” because of the reorganization of the source provisions.