Although a tort action cannot be based solely on a negligent breach of contract under Virginia law, a plaintiff may, under maritime law, maintain contract and tort claims simultaneously, even if they arise out of the same facts. Background Thomas ...

Tagged with: Admiralty Judge Rebecca Beach Smith U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In this litigation in a longstanding contest over salvage rights to the gold-laden wreck of the S.S. Central America, which sank in 1857 off the South Carolina coast, a Norfolk U.S. District Court does not have jurisdiction to rule on ...

Tagged with: Admiralty Judge Rebecca Beach Smith U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In this in rem action filed by Recov­ery Limited Partnership in this long­standing contest over salvage rights to the gold-laden wreck of the S.S. Cen­tral America, which sank off the coast of South Carolina in 1857, the Norfolk U.S. District ...

Tagged with: Admiralty Judge Rebecca Beach Smith U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In this litigation in the wake of attachment of the vessel Cape Viewer in Chesapeake Bay, the 4th Circuit affirms a district court decision confirming sale of the vessel to intervening plaintiff Noble Chartering Inc. for $8.3 million. Industrial Carriers ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Admiralty Judge G. Steven Agee

A Norfolk U.S. District Court denies a motion for award of title filed by Recovery Limited Partnership in this longstanding contest over salvage rights to the gold-laden wreck of the S.S. Central America, which sank off the coast of South ...

Tagged with: Admiralty Judge Rebecca Beach Smith U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A former lawyer for Columbus America Discovery Group, which was involved in a salvage operation for the gold-laden wreck of the S.S. Central America off the coast of South Carolina, cannot assert a valid salvage claim based on his attorney’s ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Admiralty Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

A woman who signed a Slip Lease Agreement with plaintiff marina where the woman and her husband kept their boat is liable for breach of a provision in the Agreement that required a lessee to obtain $300,000 in indemnity insurance ...

Tagged with: Admiralty Judge Raymond A. Jackson U.S. District Court - Eastern District

The 4th Circuit affirms summary judgment in favor of World Fuel Services Trading DMCC in its in rem action against the vessel, M/V Hebei Shijiazhuang, to enforce a maritime lien for the supply of necessaries – “bunkers” of marine fuel ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Admiralty Judge G. Steven Agee

Plaintiff, a foreign company operating as a common carrier providing worldwide ocean transportation services for containerized cargo, wins summary judgment and damages from defendant, a non-vessel operating common carrier, after abandonment of cargo represented as “auto parts” to be shipped ...

Tagged with: Admiralty Judge Henry Coke Morgan Jr. U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In this wrongful death suit arising from a machinist’s death while working on a dredge that collided with a derrick barge, the claimant administrator’s unilateral stipulations in this multiple-claimant action under the Limitation of Liability Act are insufficient to protect ...

Tagged with: Admiralty Judge Rebecca Beach Smith U.S. District Court - Eastern District