Admiralty law is steeped in tradition. Many of its principles derive from sources as ancient as the maritime code of the Isle of Rhodes. But in the past two decades, the law of maritime personal injury has been in flux. The pivot point is the U.S. Supreme Court case of Miles v. Apex Marine Corp.,…
More than £300m has been wiped off the paper fortune of the multibillionaire boss of the company that owned the stricken cruise liner Costa Concordia. Micky Arison, the flamboyant chairman, chief executive and majority owner of Carnival, saw a large chunk of his $4.5bn (£2.9bn) holdings dissolve on Monday as the company’s shares lost almost…
Rescue efforts aboard the sunken Costa Concordia luxury cruise liner off the coast of Tuscany were halted Monday morning when rough seas caused the ship to shift, endangering divers and rescue workers who have been searching around the clock for survivors. Hours before operations were suspended, a male victim was found in an above-water section…
A collision at sea near Hong Kong between a passenger vessel and a ferry killed at least 38. The Monday night crash was Hong Kong’s deadliest accident in more than 15 years, and the worst maritime accident in more than 40. The ferry involved, the SEA SMOOTH, has a top speed of almost 45 kph…
The Virginia Supreme Court has reinstated a $2 million award it struck down earlier this year in an asbestos lawsuit against John Crane, Inc. In March, the court vacated awards totaling more than $3 million in a lawsuit filed by Robert Hardick, who alleged exposure to asbestos while a Navy seaman, before he passed away….
The Coast Guard confirmed that a W&T Offshore gas platform located in the Gulf of Mexico caught fire Wednesday morning, forcing three workers to evacuate. Two of the workers suffered minor injuries as they evacuated the platform, which is located in 120 feet of water about 29 miles south of Terrebonne Parrish, La.’s Dernieres Barrier…
This past weekend Coast Guard Sector Anchorage received a mayday call from crewmembers of the 110′ commercial fishing vessel, the F/V MOONLIGHT MAID. The fishing vessel encountered high winds and 13′ seas before when it began taking on water. At the time, the fishing vessel was more than 30 miles south of Resurrection Bay. A…
Although the parent company of the owner of the stricken Costa Concordia is based in Miami, passengers who want to file a lawsuit in U.S. courts over the cruise ship disaster will encounter obstacles in the tickets issued by the cruise line. That’s because of fine print on the tickets purchased and signed by the…
A boat exploded last night at the John Wayne Marina in Sequim, Washington, seriously injuring a man on board. The 40-foot boat blew up about 5:45 last night at the “C” dock in the marina. Fire District Three spokesman Patrick Young says the explosion was so large, boats within 75 yards were also damaged. One…
The London newspaper Guardian reported yesterday that Carnival Cruise Lines has opened talks on compensation with the survivors of last week’s shipwreck. One may assume that, in keeping with the practice of vessel owners and their underwriters in other shipwreck cases, Carnival is trying to settle quickly with claimants, before they retain lawyers to investigate…
There was no time that Nick was ever unavailable for me. That’s what I call a friend. That is somebody who cares.
Past Client of BoatLaw Commercial Fisherman, Southeast Alaska
