The High Court has refused an application to dismiss a fisheries technician’s personal injury action as statute barred, ruling that the two-year time limit in section 46(2) of the Civil Liability Act 1961 applies only to incidents involving collisions between two or more vessels.
The plaintiff was injured on 4 October 2004 while aboard the fishing vessel Catherine R, after several boxes of ray struck him. He sued his employer, the Marine Institute, and the vessel’s owner, Cara Rowden. The judgment identifies the plaintiff by name; this draft preserves that identification as stated in the source.
The owner applied to dismiss the claim, arguing that proceedings had to be started within two years of the injury. The personal injuries summons was issued on 25 January 2007. The plaintiff had applied to the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB), which issued an authorisation on 23 October 2006. The judgment said the PIAB Act’s provision pausing limitation periods did not cover claims under section 46(2).
The plaintiff argued that section 46(2) was confined to collisions involving at least two vessels. Justice Dunne considered the wording of that section alongside the broader maritime scheme in section 46 and its legislative history. She concluded that the section was intended to apply to collisions caused by the fault of two or more vessels, and therefore did not bar this claim.
The judge added that, if she were wrong about the section’s scope, she would extend the time limit under section 46(3). She said the plaintiff could not issue proceedings before receiving PIAB authorisation and that the resulting delay was outside his control. The owner’s suggestion that the plaintiff’s solicitors could have asked PIAB to expedite the authorisation did not alter her view.
The ruling concerned the owner’s application to dismiss the action on limitation grounds. The court refused the relief sought; the judgment did not determine the underlying injury claim or liability for the incident.