Admiralty Law News

The law governing marine insurance in the United States has long been a source of considerable confusion. And if there was once a clear set of principles applicable in such cases, the Supreme Court long ago muddied the waters with their infamous ruling in Wilburn Boat Co. v. Fireman’s Fund Ins. Co., 348 U.S. 310 (1955). That case, involving a fire on a houseboat on an inland man-made lake on the Texas-Oklahoma border, established the “litmus test” for when maritime law should…

Boriana Farrar is a familiar face in maritime circles, the Vice President and Counsel and a Senior Claims Executive and Business Development Director for the Americas at the Ship Owners Claims Bureau, Inc. managers of the American P&I Club. We met with her in her NYC office to discuss her path from her native Bulgaria to a top maritime professional position.When Boriana Farrar moved from her native Bulgaria to the United States in 2001, she did so to be close to family, her mother and her sister who had already established a life in the U.S., some 5,000 miles from her homeland.

A series of mishaps at sea has prompted the U.S. Navy to examine the way it conducts business. The accidents shared some similar contributing causes such as fundamental watchstanding and seamanship, and each of these incidents were preventable. The four incidents involved surface combatants in the Seventh Fleet area of responsibility. • On January 31, 2017, the Yokosuka-based Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Antietam, while anchored in high winds, dragged anchor and ran aground in Tokyo Bay. 1,100 gallons of hydraulic fluid spilled into Tokyo Bay.

The sVGP and recent ballast water treatment system approvals create another headache for small vessel owners. Steve Candito provides a primer. The long delayed Small Vessel General Permit (sVGP) legislation is scheduled to come into force on December 18, 2017. Despite some confusion and inconsistencies on this issue generally, there is currently no serious effort to delay the sVGP requirement. Thus, vessel owners should be preparing now for compliance. Although the deadline is still months away…

As summer slowly fades to memory and commercial vessels have less frequent encounters with recreational vessels of all sizes, shapes and descriptions on America’s inland waterways, it might be a good time to review a strange, but not completely unusual incident that occurred in Louisiana on a navigable channel in the lower Mississippi River late last May. A workboat was pushing a small barge through a narrow tributary on a job to deliver it to its destination approximately twelve miles away from where the transit originated.

Steven Candito is the Founder, President and CEO of Foresea, which provides advisory services including strategic planning, regulatory compliance and crisis management to the maritime and environmental communities. Previously, Candito was President and CEO of NRC. He has extensive experience with OPA 90 compliance issues with particular focus on vessel owner and insurance matters. Before that, Candito was an attorney with Haight Gardner Poor & Havens, specializing in maritime and environmental law. Candito has also served as a marine engineer aboard Exxon USA’s domestic tanker fleet. He is a graduate of Hofstra University School of Law and the United States Merchant Marine Academy.

The College of Business Administration at Nicholls State University began offering students the option of maritime management as a degree concentration in the fall of 2013. In continuing Nicholls’ efforts to attract and serve new student groups, the maritime courses are also being offered to non-degree seeking individuals as part of a certificate program. According to Dr. Chadwick, director of the program, “We seek to accommodate both traditional students and those who are seeking to gain knowledge of the field, but not necessarily pursue a degree. This might include, but is not limited to, employees of maritime or maritime-related companies. In addition, a minor in Maritime Administration was approved this December.

Long-time Teekay leader David Glendinning, president of Teekay Gas Services, will retire December 17, 2015, after more than 28 years at Teekay. Stepping up to replace Glendinning is Mark Kremin, currently vice president in the same division, Teekay Corporation announced today. Kremin recently took over reporting line accountability for the Teekay gas operations team, and will complete the full handover of leadership accountabilities on Glendinning's retirement date. Glendinning joined Teekay in 1987 and has since held a number of senior positions, including Vice President, Marine and Commercial Operations from 1995 until his promotion to Senior Vice President, Customer Relations and Marine Project Development in 1999.

Tom Ridge, President and CEO of Ridge Global, an international provider of security and risk management services, today announced that Thomas Betro, former Director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), and VP at NTT DATA, has joined as an advisor. Betro will work closely with Ridge Global’s Flag Bridge strategic maritime team to help guide the expansion of a global maritime criminal investigation service. “We are fortunate to have a seasoned maritime law enforcement professional like Tom Betro on our team,” said Gov. Ridge.

Jose Femenia, former Head of Engineering and Director of the Master of Marine Engineering Program at the United States Merchant Marine Academy, has been named a consultant at utiliVisor. UtiliVisor is an energy advisory firm that offers comprehensive energy monitoring and analysis services for the marine industry, providing accurate, reliable solutions to boost the fuel efficiency of vessels. Mr. Femenia will serve as a technical advisor for utiliVisor clients on shipboard propulsion and power systems. “Jose’s background at the U.S.

A.M. Best Co. has released the latest installment of the Insurance Law Podcast , a series that examines timely insurance issues from an attorney’s point of view. This episode features attorney David Skeen of the firm Wright, Constable & Skeen, LLP in Baltimore, Maryland. Mr. Skeen has been practicing admiralty law for 39 years and has been an editor with the publication American Maritime Cases for most of that time. He is a member of the Maritime Law Association of the United States and has written and lectured on various aspects of maritime law. Mr. Skeen discusses the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach, Florida to hold that a houseboat previously considered a vessel under maritime law was not a vessel.

Underwriting your newbuild program is only one half of the sea passage. That’s because the construction phase is fraught with danger. Congratulations! You’ve run the due-diligence/underwriting gauntlet successfully and now you have your lender’s credit approval in hand. You are satisfied with the terms and conditions of the loan or lease and the lender or lessor is happy with you. Don’t celebrate quite yet, though. You are only about half of the way home. Everyone knows that new and used tugs and barges, OSVs, crew boats or ferries don’t come cheap. It’s a double edged sword.

What is the duty of a vessel owner when his vessel sinks and becomes a hazard? What is a facility’s duty when it comes to vessels at their docks? On top of the oil, wreckage, and loss of use, there are legal duties and penalties for parties associated with the vessel – under relevant federal and state statutes – after it sinks. It’s the call that most owners/operators do not like to get: their vessel is partially submerged at a dock or in some navigable waterway and poses a threat to navigation.

John K. Fulweiler, Esq. assumes Chair of the American Salvage Association's (ASA) Membership Committee. A Proctor-in-Admiralty, John is excited about the opportunity of continuing to support and contribute to the ASA's endeavors. John is the managing member of Fulweiler llc, a maritime law firm practicing in various East Coast jurisdictions in the United States. Formerly a partner in a New York maritime law firm, John K. Fulweiler graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a Marine Affairs degree and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law. He is a licensed merchant mariner and served as a staff captain with a New England towing and salvage firm prior to law school.

Regulatory burdens, those here and now coming, translate into a tale of many acronyms. By Matthew Valcourt (taken from our September 2011 MarineNews print edition). The latest trend to further regulate vessel emissions and discharges will continue to give vessel owners and operators – already burdened with numerous regulations when plying international and inland waters – more sleepless nights. These include the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS), the Clean Water Act (CWA)…

From the July 2010 edition of MarineNews. With all the activity in the offshore and inland markets these days there is a ray of hope for operators who are willing to adapt to the changes that are coming. As mariners, we are good at adapting, unfortunately, we’ll be dealing with conflicting governance of state and federal laws and the uncertainty of subchapter status for new vessel types to be designed, constructed and operated in support of the emerging offshore wind energy market.

When chartering an asset so valuable and with so many risk exposures as a vessel — whether a 15-ft RIB or a 4,000 HP tractor tug, put the agreement in writing. While I have previously written in this magazine about how maritime contracts can be enforceable under admiralty law (see “Marine Contracts: Do I Have to Put it in Writing?” MarineNews, June 2008), it is far preferable to put the terms in writing. Some terminology: A contract to lease a vessel is a “charter party,” or for short a “charter.” While I cannot cover all the terms a vessel charter should include…

Tara Leiter, an attorney at Blank Rome LLP, collaborated with John A.C. Cartner (United States Coast Guard shipmaster and lawyer) and Richard P. Fiske (retired U.S. naval captain and attorney with John Cartner at Cartner & Fiske LLC) to author the recently released legal treatise The International Law of the Shipmaster. Released in the IMO’s declared Year of the Seafarer, the book is designed to identify and explain the complexity of the legal position faced daily by today’s shipmasters…

Christopher H. Mansuy, Esq., member of Carroll McNulty & Kull LLC (CMK) has been named one of 2010’s The Best Lawyers in America in the specialty of maritime law by his peers. Best Lawyers a 25-year-old, highly respected peer-review publication, compiles lists of top attorneys by completing extensive surveys with other leading attorneys. Mansuy received this honor in 2008 and 2009 as well. A resident of Chatham, N.J. Mansuy possesses 35 years of experience in handling maritime and commercial litigation matters in the state and federal courts of N.Y. and N.J.

Carroll McNulty & Kull LLC (CMK) has announced that Christopher H. Mansuy has joined the law firm as a member. Mansuy brings 35 years of experience to CMK handling maritime and commercial litigation matters in the State and Federal Courts of New York and New Jersey as well as maritime disputes in arbitration including the Society of Maritime Arbitrators and the American Arbitration Association. With offices in New York and Basking Ridge, N.J., CMK provides comprehensive services to clients in the areas of admiralty, maritime, transportation, and international trade.

Dubai Maritime City Authority (DMC Authority) launched its series of industry forums with the first covering shipping and the environment, which focused on the recent changes to regulation that the industry is witnessing on discharges by vessels trading in territorial waters around the world. Commercial ship owners trading in some countries waters now need a permit to discharge grey water, ballast water and all other discharges incidental to the operation of the vessel. The forum…

The most anticipated maritime law decision in recent years has been the decision in June 2008 by the U.S. Supreme Court that reduced the award of punitive damages against Exxon from $2.5 billion to $500 million. After nearly 20 years of litigation against Exxon and the captain of its vessel, the case is finally at an end. For those who practice maritime law or are guided and affected by it, the most obvious ramifications of the Court’s decision are that punitive damages may be awarded against a shipowner…

For decades, it has been a basic principle of U.S. admiralty law that contracts for the sale of a vessel are not within the maritime jurisdiction.3 While the principle has been criticized,4 nonetheless it is still considered black letter law. In a decision issued last week, a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the Honorable Shira A. In Kalafrana, an aspect of the sales agree­ment concerned repairs to the vessel. A dispute over the repairs led to a arbitration and award. The New York Rule B action was based on the award. While Judge Scheindlin certainly recognized and acknowledged the traditional precedent, the Court held that more recent U.S.