Where a bunker trader asserted a maritime lien based upon nonpayment of fuel bunkers, but it failed to show the owner or a person authorized by the owner ordered the bunkers, its lien was denied. Background This dispute concerns whether ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Admiralty Judge Henry F. Floyd

Where a $3 million personal injury suit was filed against the owner of a ship by a woman allegedly injured during a trip, the ship was worth less than $605,000 and there was the possibility of additional claims, an order ...

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

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