(1) A court in Saint Lucia shall not entertain an action in personam to enforce a claim to which this section applies unless—
(a) the defendant resides in Saint Lucia or has a place of business within Saint Lucia;
(b) the cause of action arose within Saint Lucian waters or within the limits of a harbour or port of Saint Lucia; or
(c) an action arising out of the same incident or series of incidents is proceeding in the court, or has been heard and determined in the court.
(2) A court in Saint Lucia shall not entertain an action in personam to enforce a claim to which this section applies until proceedings previously brought by the plaintiff in any court outside Saint Lucia against the same defendant in respect of the same incident or series of incidents have been discontinued or otherwise come to an end.
(3) Subsections (1) and (2) shall apply to counterclaims, not being counterclaims in proceedings arising out of the same incident or series of incidents, as they apply to actions in personam, and a reference to the plaintiff is a reference to the plaintiff on the counterclaim and a reference to the defendant is a reference to the defendant to the counterclaim.
(4) Subsections (1) to (3) shall not apply to any action or counterclaim if the defendant to the action submits or has agreed to submit to the jurisdiction of the court.
(5) Subject to subsection (2), where a court has jurisdiction, for the purposes of this Act, the jurisdiction shall extend to an action in personam to enforce a claim to which this section applies, whenever any of the conditions specified in subsection (1) is satisfied; and the rules of court relating to the service of process outside the jurisdiction shall apply and the Chief Justice may make such provision as may appear to be appropriate, having regard to the provisions of this subsection.
(6) This section shall not—
(a) prevent an action or counterclaim which is brought under this section from being transferred to some other Court of competent jurisdiction; or
(b) affect proceedings in respect of any cause of action arising before the coming into operation of this section.
(7) The claims to which this section applies are claims for damage, loss of life or personal injury arising out of a collision between ships, or out of the carrying out of or omission to carry out a manoeuvre or out of non-compliance with the collision regulations.
(8) For the avoidance of doubt, it is hereby declared that this section shall apply in relation to the jurisdiction of any court not having admiralty jurisdiction, as well as in relation to its admiralty jurisdiction, if any.