No Contribution from U.S. in Sailor’s Death 
By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 12, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Admiralty, Judge Allyson K. Duncan
In this appeal of a $1.25 million wrongful death award against Vulcan Materials Company in a suit in admiralty after the death of a 19-year-old seaman when his rigid-hull inflatable boat collided with a tug during a Navy training exercise on the James River, the 4th Circuit affirms the district court award to the seaman’s [...]
Dismissal Recommended for Third-Party Complaint
By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 7, 2011
Tags: Admiralty, Judge Dennis Dohnal, U.S. District Court - Eastern District
In this suit in which a contractor alleges injuries from the explosion of a ship’s propane tank as he refilled it on land for a commercial fishing operation, a magistrate judge for the Richmond U.S. District Court recommends dismissing third-party defendant Northern Neck Gas Company, but denying dismissal of third-party defendant George Noblett Inc. On [...]
Coast Guard’s Endorsement to Oil Tanker Upheld
By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 1, 2011
Tags: Admiralty, Judge Leonie Brinkema, U.S. District Court - Eastern District
An Alexandria U.S. District Court upholds a decision by the U.S. Coast Guard’s National Vessel Documentation Center to issue a coastwise endorsement to the oil tanker Seabuilt Trader after work was completed on the vessel in a foreign shipyard. The owners of the vessel – Seabulk Energy Transport Inc. and Seabulk Petroleum Transport Inc. – [...]
Admiralty – Propane Tank Explosion – Indemnity – Third-Party Complaint
By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 23, 2010
Tags: Admiralty, Judge Dennis Dohnal, Judge Robert E. Payne, U.S. District Court - Eastern District
In this suit in which a contractor alleges injuries from the explosion of a ship’s propane tank as he refilled it on land for a commercial fishing operation, a Richmond U.S. District Court accepts a magistrate’s recommendation to dismiss defendant Omega’s third-party complaint against two defendants for breach of contract and for contractual indemnity. Omega’s [...]
‘Deal’ on liability didn’t waive jury
By Peter Vieth
Published: November 10, 2010
Tags: Admiralty, Judge Jame A. Cales Jr., Portsmouth Circuit Court, Supreme Court of Virginia News
In upholding a $5 million jury verdict for a disabled shipyard worker, the Supreme Court of Virginia has reaffirmed a plaintiff’s right to a jury trial and signaled its close scrutiny of claims about the appellate record. It’s the second visit to the Supreme Court for the case of former longshoreman Sherman Whitaker, who suffered [...]
Admiralty – Law Of Salvage – Titanic Wreck Site
By Deborah Elkins
Published: September 29, 2010
Tags: Admiralty, Judge Rebecca Beach Smith, U.S. District Court - Eastern District
A Norfolk federal district court grants plaintiff RMS Titanic Inc.’s motion for a salvage award in this suit filed Nov. 30, 2007, of 100 percent of the fair market value of the artifacts recovered in the 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2004 expeditions to the wreck of the RMS Titanic, but the court specifically [...]
Barge company held liable in death of sailor in James – $1,250,000 Verdict
By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: September 20, 2010
Tags: Admiralty, Federal Courts, Judge Henry Coke Morgan Jr., Million-Dollar Verdicts, Wrongful Death
While taking part in training exercises on the James River, decedent Freddie Porter, a storekeeper seaman in the U.S. Navy, was killed when his rigid-hulled inflatable boats (RHIBs) was struck by one of an array of barges being towed by the tug William E. Poole. He was thrown overboard and died when he was sucked [...]
Admiralty – Jurisdiction – Venue – Ship Repair Payment
By Deborah Elkins
Published: September 8, 2010
Tags: Admiralty, Judge Mark Davis, U.S. District Court - Eastern District
A Norfolk U.S. District Court says the Eastern District of Virginia is a proper venue for this action by plaintiff shipyard against the City of Key West, Florida, seeking payment of over $1 million for repair work performed on the U.S.A.F. Hoyt S. Vandenberg, and the shipyard has stated a claim for a constructive trust [...]
Admiralty – Negligence – Forklift Accident – Voluntary Spotters
By Deborah Elkins
Published: August 2, 2010
Tags: Admiralty, Judge Raymond A. Jackson, U.S. District Court - Eastern District
Although the Navy was not required to use spotters or safeties when a petty officer operated a 20-ton forklift, and the Navy voluntarily undertook to provide this assistance, a contractor’s installation technician working aboard the ship cannot collect from the shipowner, the U.S., for injuries he suffered when the forklift ran over his foot, a [...]
Admiralty – Jurisdiction – Propane Tank Explosion – Maritime Connection
By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 26, 2010
Tags: Admiralty, Judge Robert E. Payne, U.S. District Court - Eastern District
A contractor who alleges injuries from the explosion of a ship’s propane tank as he refilled it on land for a commercial fishing operation can pursue his claim in Richmond U.S. District Court, as the court has subject matter jurisdiction under the Extension of Admiralty Jurisdiction Act of 1948, 46 U.S.C. § 30101. Plaintiff alleges, [...]
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