Code of Federal Regulations Title 46. Shipping § 46.370.2 General policy

(1) A time-barred claim which could be asserted in court by way of set-off against a claim in favor of the United States arising out of the same contract may be considered in an overall settlement where settlement will result in a net payment to the United States, provided claimant releases the United States from all claims arising from or in any way connected with said contract.

(2) Time-barred claims in favor of friendly foreign governments shall not be rejected solely because they are time-barred. However, should any such government adopt the practice of asserting the statute of limitations as a defense against claims of the United States, the time-barred claims of that government shall be rejected.

(3) Time-barred claims arising under Second Seamen's War Risk insurance (or similar earlier types of crew insurance) where the policy was issued or the risks were assumed by the Maritime Administration (or its predecessors), shall not be rejected where the beneficiaries were precluded from receiving the proceeds of the policy by reason of regulations or orders of the U.S. Government (i) by reason of the beneficiary being physically or mentally unable to present the claim, (ii) by the beneficiaries being unaware of their entitlement to the proceeds in question, or (iii) where the claim is not “stale” under general principles of equity.