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www.marinelink.com MN43with passengers and cargo on board, left Southampton on her maiden voy- age, bound for New York; that on April 14, about 11:40 p.m., in mido- cean, in latitude 41 degrees 46? N. and longitude 50 degrees 14? W., the Titanic came into collision with an iceberg, as a result of which she sank about 2:20 a.m. on April 15, 1912; that 711 persons were saved in the boats; that her master, many of her officers and crew, and a large number of passengers, perished; that the ves- sel, her cargo, the personal effects ofthe passengers and crew, the mails, and everything connected with the vessel, except 14 lifeboats and their equipment, became a total loss; thatthe value of the lifeboats saved and of the pending freight and passage mon- eys did not exceed the sum of $91,805.54; and that the petitionerclaimed exemption from liability. The petition prayed?that the court adjudge that the petitioner?s liability be limited to the value of the peti- tioner?s interest in the steamship at the end of the voyage.? In other words, since the TITAN- IC, itself, was a total loss, the ?limita- tion fund? to which the survivors could lay claim in court consisted of only the dollar value of the remaining 14 lifeboats and ?pending freight? together totaling less than $92,000.In their filing under the Act in Houston federal court in May 2010 after the DEEPWATER HORIZON calamity, the vessel?s owners and oper- ators sought to limit their liability to$26.7 million, the value of the rig?s ?operating dayrate,? not the rig itself, which, like the TITANIC, had sunk and thus was a total loss. In fact, Transocean filed in court an affidavit from a marine surveyor attesting to the rig?s post-casualty market value as ?$0.00.?BACKGROUNDOFTHE ACTThe Act is codified at title 46 United States Code sections 30501 to 30512. The key provisions of the Act, alluded to above, appear in Section 30505(a) and (b), which state:§ 30505. General limit of liability (a) In general. Except as provided in section 30506 of this title, the liabilityof the owner of a vessel for any claim, debt, or liability described in subsection(b) shall not exceed the value of the ves- sel and pending freight. If the vessel has LEGALMN#11 (32-49):MN 2011 Layouts 10/27/2011 9:57 AM Page 43