The limitation fund for maritime claims liability, referred to as the liability fund for short, refers to the deposit set up by the responsible person to ensure the repayment of the limited debts within the limit of liability when the court with jurisdiction requests the limitation of maritime claims liability. Article 1976, item 1 of the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims stipulates that the person found liable may set up a fund in any contracting state or any other competent authority that requests limitation of liability. China's maritime law stipulates that if the responsible person requests limitation of liability in accordance with the maritime law [1], he may set up a liability limitation fund in a court with jurisdiction. According to the above provisions, the responsible person may or may not set up a responsibility fund. Therefore, the establishment of the liability fund is not a condition for the responsible person to limit the liability for compensation, and its purpose is only to obtain some special protection for his ship or other property. Maritime claims liability fund includes personal injury liability fund and property damage liability fund. For simple claims for personal injury or property loss, the responsible person may set up a liability fund according to the relevant compensation limit. If personal injury and property loss occur at the same time, the responsible person may set up personal injury and property loss liability funds respectively according to the relevant limits. The amount of the above two funds is the limit of compensation for personal injury and death and the limit of compensation for non-personal injury and death stipulated in the Maritime Law, plus the corresponding interest from the date when the liability arises to the date when the fund is established.

After the establishment of the maritime claims liability fund, it will have the following effects:

(1) No claimant may exercise any rights over any property of the responsible person;

(2) If the ship or any other property for which the liability limitation fund has been established is seized, or if the fund founder submits collateral, the court shall immediately order it to be released or returned.

Legal basis: Article 210 of People's Republic of China (PRC) Maritime Law, except as otherwise provided in Article 211 of this Law, the limitation of liability for maritime claims shall be calculated according to the following provisions: (3) If the limitation specified in Item (1) is not enough to pay all the claims for personal injury or death, the difference shall be juxtaposed with the claims for non-personal injury or death, and the compensation shall be paid in proportion from the amount in Item (2).