Cite as: 531 U. S. 438 (2001)
Opinion of the Court
maritime nations" that had their own limitation acts. The Main v. Williams, 152 U. S. 122, 128 (1894). See also Norwich Co., supra, at 116-119 (discussing history of limitation acts in England, France, and the States that led to the passage of the Limitation Act).
The Act is not a model of clarity. See 2 T. Schoenbaum, Admiralty and Maritime Law 299 (2d ed. 1994) ("Th[e] 1851 Act, badly drafted even by the standards of the time, continues in effect today"). Having created a right to seek limited liability, Congress did not provide procedures for determining the entitlement. This Court did not have an opportunity to review the Act in detail until 20 years after its enactment. See Norwich Co., supra. Deeming the Act "incapable of execution" without further instructions to courts, id., at 123, we designed the procedures that govern a limitation action, and promulgated them the same Term, see Supplementary Rules of Practice in Admiralty, 13 Wall. xii-xiv. We later explained that the scheme "was sketched in outline" by the Act, and "the regulation of details as to the form and modes of proceeding was left to be prescribed by judicial authority." Providence & New York S. S. Co. v. Hill Mfg. Co., 109 U. S. 578, 590 (1883).
The 1872 rules were "intended to facilitate the proceedings of the owners of vessels for claiming the limitation of liability secured by the statute." The "Benefactor," 103 U. S. 239, 244 (1880). Under the rules, a vessel owner seeking limitation of liability had to file a petition. The district court would obtain an appraisal of the vessel's value or the owner's interest in the vessel, and ensure that payment or some guarantee of payment was deposited with the court. The court would then order all claimants to appear. Supplementary Rule of Practice in Admiralty 54, 13 Wall., at xii- xiii. In the process of seeking limited liability, the owner was permitted to contest the fact of liability. Rule 56, 13 Wall., at xiii. The ability to contest liability relieved vessel owners of the "very onerous" English rule, which required
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