Even though your view is commonly held, at least among non-lawyers and others who believe that the US justice system operates the way it "should", I am skeptical that an owner can escape liability for negligent maintenance and hiring practices that contribute to a loss, .
My lawyer agrees with you. He felt it was only worth using an LLC for tax accounting purposes for a charter business. Maybe you also gain a bit of liability protection but maybe not. He felt it worked best if a yacht management company made all decisions regarding boat maintenance without even consulting the owner. But even then, “piercing the corporate veil” is common. He felt that a better option if not chartering the boat was usually to hold the boat in the owners name and have a $5M umbrella excess liability policy on the home owners insurance (which costs little) on top of $2M liability in the boat policy.