(1) Whenever loss of life or personal injuries are suffered by a person on board a ship owing to the fault of that ship and of any other ship or ships, and a proportion of the damages is recovered from the owner of one of the ships which exceeds the proportion in which she was in fault, the said owner may recover by way of contribution the amount of the excess from the owners of the other ship or ships to the extent to which those ships were respectively in fault:
     Provided that no amount shall be so recovered which could not, by reason of any statutory or contractual limitation of, or exemption from, liability, or which could not for any other reason, have been recovered in the first instance as damages by the persons entitled to sue therefor.
     (2) In addition to any other remedy provided by law, the person entitled to any contribution under sub-section (1) shall, for the purpose of recovering the contribution, have, subject to the provisions of this Act, the same rights and powers as the persons entitled to sue for damages in the first instance.