[1] 46 U.S.C. § 30104 et seq. Such claims also include liability claims based upon a breach of the warranty of seaworthiness under the general maritime law, as well as the implied contract for maintenance (a daily stipend for living expenses) and cure (medical care to a point of maximum medical improvement) owed by shipowners to injured seamen.
[2] Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA), 33 USC 901, et seq.
[3] Includes Moragne wrongful death cause of action
[4] Death On The High seas Act, 46 U.S.C. §30302
[5] Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, 43 USC §1301, 1333
[6] La. Civ. Code art.’s 2315 and 2317
[7] COLREGS/Navigation Rules, 33 U.S.C. § 2001 – 2038, governing navigation on both International and Inland Waters of the United States.
[8] Defined as a moving vessel striking a fixed object such as a dock
[9] A concept original arising under ancient Rhodesian Law, but now governed by the York-Antwerp Rules, which allows a shipowner to bring claims for expenditures or loss of cargo resulting from a “peril” the ship has encountered against all those having an interest in the voyage based upon the value of their respective interests in the voyage.
[10] Although all these are certainly names of States, the Rules are actually named after the ships and the litigation they spawned: The Pennsylvania Rule requires a party guilty of a statutory violation to prove that the violation could not have been the cause of the subject accident; The Oregon Rule results in presumption of negligence when a ship strikes a known, stationary object; and, The Louisiana Rule results in a presumption of negligence where a drifting vessel strikes property and causes damage.
[11]The Supreme Court’s Olympic Towing decision defines “proximate cause” as, “that cause which in a direct, unbroken sequence produces the injury complained of and without which such injury would not have happened.” This differs from Common law tort causation which is based on the scope of the duty owed.
[12] E.g., “New for Old” (credit for repairs resulting in extension of useful life of property); Fleet Damage Rule (limitation on recovery of lost revenue where replacement ship available from fleet); Dominant Mind Rule (presumption of control and legal responsibility of tug over barges in tow when collision occurs).
[13] Rule of Robins Dry Dock, limiting recovery for purely economic loss; East River Doctrine, limiting recovery in tort where contractual remedy is available; reliance on Products Liability/402A of the Restatement of Torts, rather than state law remedies; Wilburn Boat, requiring application of state law for insurance coverage determinations in the absence of controlling federal jurisprudence or statute.
[14] Laches applies in the absence of an applicable statute of limitation.
[15] Due from the date of the loss rather than from the date of judicial demand (the date suit is filed).
[16] Rules A to G 46 U.S.C. § 30501, et seq, which allows a shipowner to limit its liability to the value of the vessel after the accident, if the shipowner had no “privity and knowledge” ahead of time of the cause or activity which causes the accident.
[17] 46 U.S.C. § 30501, et seq, which allows a shipowner to limit its liability to the value of the vessel after the accident, if the shipowner had no “privity and knowledge” ahead of time of the cause or activity which causes the accident.
[18] A non-possessory right which allows a lienholder to proceed in rem against a ship or other property. In the United States, a vessel is “personified” which allows a lienholder to “arrest” a vessel to enforce a lien. See also, the Maritime lien Act, 46 U.S. Code § 31342, et seq.
[19] Protection (defense costs) and Indemnity (payment of liability claims).
[20] Marine General Liability, a marine version of a land-based comprehensive general liability policy, as the latter generally contains a “Watercraft Exclusion.”
[21] Maritime Employers Liability for liability to or for employees on non-owned vessels
[22] (German for “umbrella”) A type of broad marine excess coverage over underlying primary coverage or insured’s retentions.
[23] First party coverage for damage to vessels. Coverage issues will often arise from named perils or the catch-all Inchmaree Clause, the Adventures Clause and the Liner Negligence Clause.
[24] Includes coverage above primary layer based upon the language of “following form”, industry forms and manuscript forms.
[25] Includes coverage for Oil Pollution Act 33 USC. 2701, et seq. (“OPA”) and related Certificates of Financial Responsibility (“COFR’s”), as well as the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, 42 USC 9601, et seq. (“CERCLA”).
