by Dawei Zhang | Mar 21, 2014
In a Summary Order dated March 13, 2014, the United States Court of Appeals for Second Circuit affirmed a summary judgment of the Southern District of New York, which ruled in favor of a vessel owner based on data of the ship’s Simplified Voyage Data Recorder (“SVDR”) in a lawsuit by the owner of a submarine cable damaged by the ship’s anchor. Optical Communications Group v. MV Ambassador, No. 13-1544 (2nd Cir., March 13, 2014). (more…)
by Christopher Hannan | Mar 20, 2014
As detailed in numerous prior posts (most recently regarding the Coronel decision), a series of decisions allowing removal of general maritime law (GML) claims by seamen, even when combined with otherwise statutorily non-removable Jones Act claims, has been developing among the district courts within the Fifth Circuit. While Coronelprovided the first backlash against this historic, albeit nascent, shift in admiralty practice, the Coronel analysis was rather complex and esoteric. (more…)
by Christopher Hannan | Mar 13, 2014
As reported in two prior posts (The Removal of the Ancient Mariner – The Developing Jurisprudence Allowing Removal of General Maritime Law Claims under the Recent Amendments to 28 U.S.C. §1441(b) and The Removal of the Ancient Mariner – Reprising a Sea-Change in Admiralty Law) district courts within the Fifth Circuit have virtually unanimously adopted the reasoning of Judge Gray Miller’s decision in Ryan v. Hercules Offshore, Inc., 2013 WL 1967315 (S.D. Tex. May 13, 2013), which overturned the half-century-old, formerly hornbook rule that general maritime law (GML) claims are non-removable and allowed removal of such claims under the recent amendments to 28 U.S.C. §1441. As the rule of Hercules continues to gain a broader foothold on the Gulf of Mexico, however, a sister court in the Pacific Northwest has rejected the sea change. (more…)
by Christopher Hannan | Mar 11, 2014
In a ruling that will likely send shockwaves through the maritime industry and be considered a landmark decision in years to come, a divided panel of the Fifth Circuit in Naquin v. Elevating Boats, L.L.C., — F.3d —,No. 12-31258 (5th Cir. Mar. 10, 2014) (Davis and Milazzo, J.; Jones, J. dissenting) upheld a jury’s determination that a vessel repair supervisor at a shipyard in Houma, Louisiana qualified as a Jones Act seaman and was entitled to recover money damages under the Jones Act, to the exclusion of the compensation regime under the Longshore Harbor Workers Compensation Act (“LHWCA”). This decision may have an enormous impact on shipyards, the operators whose vessels they service, and the insurers covering them. (more…)
