Well, I don't know what you mean by liability. I think the third-party liability regime when you have a victim, for example, because there was a spill and there was pollution, is encompassed by international conventions that are brought into Canadian law via the Marine Liability Act.
The last brick in this thing is the HNS convention which is an IMO convention and will be integrated in the Marine Liability Act via Bill C-3, which is now in the Senate. I don't remember when it was before you, but it was probably last spring or so. So this is the liability and it channels the liability to a ship owner who has to pay, and there is mandatory insurance, and when it reaches the top then you have the international fund kicking in. This is for third-party liability.
If you have a deficiency, basically the port states will require that you fix it. It has to be fixed either on the spot, or if it's something that is not critical there may be a deadline. For instance, you might have to fix it before you reach the next port of call.
If the deficiencies are critical and there is a danger, such as immediate danger to the environment or to the crew or to safety, then you have a detention. It means that your ship cannot move. It will stay here until things have been fixed and the port state authority is fine with it and says, okay you can go.