(1) Where loss of life or personal injury is suffered by any person on board a vessel owing to the fault of that vessel and of any other vessel, the liability of the owners of the vessels shall be joint and several.
(2) This section shall not be construed as depriving any person of any right of defence on which, independently of this section, that person might have relied in an action brought against him or her by the person injured, or any person entitled to sue in respect of such loss of life, or shall affect the right of any person to limit his or her liability in cases to which this section relates in the manner provided by law.