Where a woman was allegedly injured when she fell off a Yamaha WaveRunner personal watercraft, there was admiralty jurisdiction over her suit alleging faulty design and failure to properly warn because the accident occurred on the Rappahannock River. Background Danielle ...

Tagged with: Admiralty Judge Robert E. Payne U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where a ship’s bosun should have known that recompacting a large amount of trash was a job for two people, but nevertheless ordered a crew member to do it alone and ignored his concerns, the United States was liable for ...

Tagged with: Admiralty Judge Mark S. Davis U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Although a fuel supplier had already entered into a settlement agreement with a vessel charterer who failed to pay for fuel, that settlement did not prevent the supplier from enforcing a maritime lien against the vessel. Background Addax Energy SA ...

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

Where containers shipped by the defendant were subjected to a lengthy customs hold, the shipper was liable for over $1.3 million in demurrage, detention and related charges under the parties’ contract. Frustration of purpose, impossibility and force majeure were insufficient ...

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

Where the owner of a ship detained by Nigeria for more than two years identified property it wanted garnished, its request was denied because it did not provide a sufficient basis to conclude the garnishee held property in which defendant ...

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

Although a man injured in a barge accident could not assert a claim for unseaworthiness against the tug owner because only a seaman employed by a vessel can make such a claim, he can replead a claim for direct negligence. ...

Tagged with: Admiralty Judge Lawrence R. Leonard U.S. District Court - Eastern District

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