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able to the modern shipping industry are far greater today, thus eliminating any reason for allowing the Act to remain part of American admiralty law at the expense of innocent victims.It is time for the courts to strike it down.? (White, Mark A., ?The 1851 Shipowners? Limitation of Liability Act: Should the Courts Deliver the Final Blow?,? 24 N. Ill. U. L. Rev. 821) (Summer 2004)) ?? owners of pleasure vessels may limit their liability under theLimitation Act?there is little reason for such a rule.? (Senior U.S. Circuit Judge Elbert P. Tuttle writing in Lewis Charters, Inc. v. Huckins Yacht Corp., 871 F.2d 1046 (11th Cir. 1989)) ?While we might agree in this case with the district court that extension of the Limitation Act to pleasure craft such as jet skis is inconsistent with thehistorical purposes of the Act, restric- tion of its applicability requires con- gressional action.? (U.S. Circuit Judge Joseph W. Hatchett writing in Keys Jet Ski, Inc. v. Kays, 893 F.2d 1225 (11th Cir. 1990)) Often, it is a notorious event, with dramatic and seemingly inequitableresults, that moves legislatures and executive branches, on both state and federal levels, to act. It may be the Deepwater Horizon will be the cata- lyst to cause the Congress to repeal or water-down the Vessel Owners? Limitation of Liability Act. But, 19 months after the rig burned and sank,the Act persists. Fred Goldsmith, licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio, focuses on admiralty & maritime, railroad, oilfield, personal injury and death, motorcycle, and insurance coverage litigation with Pittsburgh-based Goldsmith & Ogrodowski, LLC. Email: [email protected] Tel: (877) 404-6529 www.marinelink.com MN45MN#11 (32-49):MN 2011 Layouts 10/27/2011 10:38 AM Page 45