Barge company held liable in death of sailor in James – $1,250,000 Verdict

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 under the eight-barge array and drawn into the tugs propeller. Decedent’s craft was one of three Navy RHIBs taking part in a coxswains training exercise.

Vulcan Materials, as owner of the tug and barges, filed a limitation action, and claimant’s mother, Cassita Massiah, filed the death claim in response. The United States was impleaded by Vulcan as well. The case was tried pursuant to general maritime law, and the evidence was strongly disputed by the parties on the issues of responsibility under the Inland Rules of Navigation, sovereign immunity and the measure of damages, including the choice of law.

Massiah claimed that the tug, which was pushing eight barges on a dark night in a narrow channel in bad weather, should have posted a lookout, particularly since the barges and tug in the array presented the captain with a 600-foot blind spot. Vulcan claimed the Navy was solely responsible and the seamen were in the channel without justification and were poorly trained operating the vessels without sufficient lighting. The United States claimed immunity and the court heard all of the evidence in a five-day trial.

The court held that the United States was 80 percent liable and Vulcan 20 percent liable, and that Vulcan’s failure to properly post a lookout had caused the collision. The United States motion to be dismissed was granted post trial. Damages of $1,250,000 were awarded to the estate which consisted of parents and siblings.

Vulcan was held to be liable for the full award. The court applied the Virginia Wrongful Death Act in light of the situs of the death and the decedent’s status as a non-seafarer given his job description.

The matter has been appealed by Vulcan to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

[10-T-136]

Type of action: Admiralty
Type of action: Wrongful death
Name of case: In the Matter of the Complaint of Vulcan Materials Co.
Court: U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, Norfolk Division
Case no.: 2:08-cv-00377
Tried before: Judge
Name of judge: Henry Morgan
Verdict or Settlement: Verdict
Amount: $1,250,000
Date: Dec. 17, 2009
Demand: $1,500,000
Highest offer: None
Experts: Capt. Mitchell Stoller – duties of the tug owner and captain
Plaintiff’s attorneys: Daniel Rose, New York; Michael F. Imprevento, Norfolk