Liability
The registered owner shall normally be liable for the
costs of locating, marking and removing the wreck,
without any limitation to these costs other than the
general restriction in article 2, that they should be
reasonable and proportional to the hazard faced.
However, liability is excluded if the registered owner
proves that the maritime casualty that caused the
wreck “(a) resulted from an act of war, hostilities, civil
war, insurrection, or a natural phenomenon of an
exceptional, inevitable and irresistible character; (b)
was wholly caused by an act or omission done with
intent to cause damage by a third party; or (c) was
wholly caused by the negligence or other wrongful act
of any Government or other authority responsible for
the maintenance of lights or other navigational aids in
the exercise of that function”.32