Florida Maritime Accident Lawyer
Safety at Sea
The IMO and the "Tacit Acceptance Procedure"
Category: Safety at Sea
I think people who believe that "one world government" is upon us and that someday the United States is going to give up its sovereignty to the United Nations are crazy. At least I did think they were crazy. Now, I just say they are eccentric.
The reason that I went from "crazy" to "eccentric" was because I started looking at the conventions of the International Maritime Organization, and I came across a concept known as the "Tacit Acceptance Procedures."
In the United States, the President can make treaties but under the Constitution treaties must be be ratified by a 2/3rd's vote of the United States Senate. (Article II, Section 2) Since the Senate can't agree on anything the United States virtually never enters into shipping treaties. Consequently, most third world countries have more advanced admiralty and maritime laws than the United States does. For example, the U.S. is still operating under the Hague Rules of 1924, enacted as the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act of 1936 while the civilized world operates under the Hague-Visby Rules enacted in 1968 and amended in 1974. The U.S. operates under the 1855 Limitation of Shipowner's Liability Act while the civilized world operates under the Limitation of Liability Conventions adopted in 1976, as amended in 1996. In short, and you can quote me, the United States is backwards as a maritime power.
Because we are so backwards, perhaps it was inevitable that something like the "Tacit Acceptance Procedure" should be developed. It gives the world community, and U.S. regulators, a way to do an end run around an oblivious Senate.
The way the Tacit Acceptance Procedure works is this:
Instead of requiring that an amendment shall enter into force after being accepted by, for example, two thirds of the Parties, the "tacit acceptance" procedure provides that an amendment shall enter into force at a particular time unless before that date, objections to the amendment are received from a specified number of Parties.
In short, a U.N. organization can pass a law or regulation, the U.S. can fail to object in a timely fashion, and the U.N. law or regulation can become part of U.S. law because of "Tacit Acceptance." The unfortunate thing is that you can't even look these laws up in the United States Code or the Code of Federal Regulations. If you want to find them, you need to buy a U.N. publication which tells you what laws you are subject to.
Tacit Acceptance in the maritime arena was copies from other international conventions:
[The IMO] examined the procedures of four other UN agencies: the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). It showed that all of these organizations were able to amend technical and other regulations. These amendments became binding on Member States without a further act of ratification or acceptance being required.
If you are subject to the regulation, you have no opportunity to stand up and object. There are no "public hearings" except those held in far off place which you can't get to, and no one attends except bureaucrats from various world governments, and lobbyists.
Nevertheless, one day the Coast Guard can show up on your ship or boat, says "you are in violation of the IMO Convention on ___________________" and they can put you under arrest, or fine you, or seize your boat or ship.
Does it happen? I was at a convention of the Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute last May where a lecture was presented on new ship security regulations which went into force, and which were being enforced by the Coast Guard in the United States, without ever having become "U.S. law" as we traditionally perceive that term being used. The security regulations which were being enforced had never been proposed as law by the U.S. House of Representatives, and had never been adopted by the U.S. Senate, but you could nevertheless be arrested, hauled into a United States District Court, be tried, sentenced, and sent to a U.S. prison for violating them.
Continue reading "The IMO and the "Tacit Acceptance Procedure""
International Rules of the Road: COLREGS
Category: Safety at Sea
I don't know about you, but I can never find the International Rules of Road when I need to look at them. Consequently, for my own benefit, and to help you as well, I have copied Rules 1 though 19, the Steering and Sailing Rules, here. I've omitted the lights and shapes and sound signals, because those are used less frequently, at least by me.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Rule 1
Application
(a) These Rules shall apply to all vessels upon the high seas and in all waters connected therewith navigable by seagoing vessels.
(b) Nothing in these Rules shall interfere with the operation of special rules made by an appropriate authority for roadsteads, harbours, rivers, lakes or inland waterways connected with the high seas and navigable by seagoing vessels. Such special rules shall conform as closely as possible to these Rules.
(c) Nothing in these Rules shall interfere with the operation of any special rules made by the Government of any State with respect to additional station or signal lights, shapes or whistle signals for ships of war and vessels proceeding under convoy, or with respect to additional station or signal lights or shapes for fishing vessels engaged in fishing as a fleet. These additional station or signal lights, shapes or whistle signals shall, so far as possible, be such that they cannot be mistaken for any light, shape or signal authorized elsewhere under these Rules.
(d) Traffic separation schemes may be adopted by the Organization for the purpose of these Rules.
(e) Whenever the Government concerned shall have determined that a vessel of special construction or purpose cannot comply fully with the provisions of any of these Rules with respect to the number, position, range or arc of visibility of lights or shapes, as well as to the disposition and characteristics of sound-signalling appliances, such vessel shall comply with such other provisions in regard to the number, position, range or arc of visibility of lights or shapes, as well as to the disposition and characteristics of soundsignalling appliances, as her Government shall have determined to be the closest possible compliance with these Rules in respect of that vessel.
The Duty to Render Assistance
Category: Safety at Sea
If you are involved in a marine casualty, you have an obligation under federal law to stop and render assistance.
The Federal Act is known as the Stand-By Act. It provides that you must "render necessary assistance to each individual affected to save that affected individual from danger caused by the marine casualty" and "give the master's or individual's name and address and identification of the vessel to the master or individual in charge of any other vessel involved in the casualty." The failure to do so can result in 2 years in jail and a $1000 fine.
Help for Screenwriters: What to Avoid in Ship Disaster Movies
Category: Safety at Sea
My kids are upset with me each year when the annual maritime disaster movie comes out. Their problem? I am perpetually debunking the premise of the movie. Maybe I know too much about ships and shipping, but I simply can't sit quietly by while something totally improbable happens on the screen.
I thought that what I'd do is prepare a list of do's and dont's for screenwriters writing ship disaster movies, or ship horror movies, so that they would be more believeable, and hence I could watch them without cringing. Here is my list:
1. When a ship is upside down, or tilted more than about 15 degrees forward to aft, the lights go out. No ifs, ands or buts about it. It's dark. (It's because of the boilers)
2. You cannot walk through the engine room after there has been an explosion. Superheated steam is invisible, heated to over 1200 degrees and will cut a person in half if it doesn't suffocate them first.
3. If you are trying to escape from a sinking ship, never split up and try to go it alone.
4. If machinery starts operating by itself, stay away from it.
5. If you run aground on an island with rocks shaped like human skulls, don't get off to look around.
6. If the water is rising in the engine room, get out. When it hits the lower boiler drums there will be an explosion, followed by superheated high pressure water shooting in all directions, followed by superheated steam suffocating or scalding to death everyone in the engine room.
7. If there has been an explosion in the engine room, don't go back to see if anyone is alive. They're not, and you won't be either if you go back to check.
8. Don't make a fuss over the Bermuda Triangle. Every cruise ship leaving from Miami or Port Everglades on a Caribbean or Mexican cruise goes through the "Bermuda Triangle". It connects Miami, Bermuda, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. So far, no cruise ship has disappeared.
9. If a ship is aground, throwing the furniture overboard has no appreciable affect on refloating it.
10. If an oil tanker is aground and leaking oil through the bottom, put water into the oil tanks. The water will sink to the bottom of the tank and out the holes in the bottom. The oil will float on top of it, and the volume of the oil spill will be reduced.
11. If the Exxon Valdez is navigating off the coast of Alaska, the Captain doesn't need to be on the bridge. Second and Third Mates do that. It's okay for the Captain to be in his cabin.
12. You can't lift a 50 foot tall gorilla with the ship's cargo gear, from a rocky coastline, and put him in the hold of the ship.
13. No matter how big a shark is, he cannot pull three empty barrels below the surface of the water. The barrels are connected to a single harpoon by a rope. Either the harpoon will pull out of the shark's body, or the rope will break before the barrels are submerged.
14. At sea, never read aloud from a book of incantations which promises to summon demons from the dead. On a ship there is no place to go if the incantations work.
15. If you come upon a ship that is stopped, deserted, and has blood stains on bulkheads, do go aboard looking for somebody to provide an explanation.
16. If you are stranded at sea in a lifeboat, eat the fat guy first. According to cannibals, men taste better than women. ( I don't know why, they just do.) Men are also usually bigger than women and have larger buttocks muscles (from which ham is made). Hence one fat guy will feed more people than a woman will and will keep the others alive longer.
17. Chain saws have very limited uses aboard a ship. If you see someone walking around the ship, covered in blood, and carrying a chain saw, he is probably not a member of the ship's crew. Ditto for hedge trimmers.
18. As a corollary to #14, its probably best not to solve riddles which open the portals to hell while you are at sea either.
19. If you are on a Disney cruise and the children begin speaking in ancient languages, their heads begin spinning around 360 degrees, and they begin vomiting is long gushes, they probably have more than seasickness.
20. Stay off cruise ships named Titanic, Andrea Dorea, or Lusitania, whaling ships named Pequod, and charter fishing boats named Orca.
Carnival Liberty hit with Norovirus
Category: Safety at Sea
On November 19, 2006 the Carnival cruise ship Carnival Liberty docked in Port Everglades after a 16 day transatlantic crossing from Europe during which over 600 people became ill from Norovirus. Passengers began showing symptoms as soon as the ship got underway. Most were better by the time the ship reached Port Everglades.
Norovirus is highly contagious and causes acute gastroenteritis (AGE) (inflamation of the stomach and intestines). The symptoms include nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. As few as 10 viral particles may be sufficient to infect an individual.
Most foodborne outbreaks of norovirus illness come from direct contamination of food by a food handler immediately before its consumption. Outbreaks are frequently associated with consumption of cold foods, including various salads, sandwiches, and bakery products. Liquid items (e.g., salad dressing or cake icing) that allow virus to mix evenly are often implicated as a cause of outbreaks. Other foods, including raspberries and salads, can be contaminated before serving and cause extensive outbreaks.
Norovirus is one of the "Norwalk-like viruses", or human noroviruses (HNVs). It has an incubation period of 24-48 hours. Most patients recover from the acute infection within 24 to 48 hours (mean is 33 hours) and experience no chronic (long-lasting) symptoms. The most severe cases last for about 6 days. Noroviruses are not affected by treatment with antibiotics, and cannot grow outside of a person's body. They can live outside a person's body though.
During a typical outbreak, 15% of the passengers and crew will report to the infirmary for treatment while another 10% will suffer the effects of the virus, but will remain in their cabins.
Noroviruses are found in the stool or vomit of infected people. People can become infected with the virus in several ways, including by eating food or drinking liquids that are contaminated with norovirus, touching surfaces contaminated with norovirus, and then placing their hand in their mouth, or having direct contact with another person who is infected and showing symptoms. Once the virus breaks out, it can be found on handrails, elevator buttons, and anywhere infected passengers may place their hands. Frequent handwashing reduces the spread of the infection. On most ships, the ship's Captain will no longer shake hands with passengers to avoid potentially spreading the virus.
People begin being contagious as soon as they begin having symptoms, and remain contagious for three days after the symptoms disappear. Some people may be contagious for as long as 2 weeks after recovery.
The typical mode of contagion begins with foodborne transmission in the shipboard restaurants, followed by secondary person-to-person transmission. Although presymptomatic viral transmission (called "shedding") may occur, shedding usually begins with onset of symptoms and may continue for 2 weeks after recovery.
After an incident like this, extensive decontamination of the ship is necessary. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommendations include washing surfaces with suitable disinfectants like freshly prepared chlorine solutions at concentrations of >1,000 ppm, phenol-based compounds, and hydrogen peroxide products. Cruise ships also should promote frequent, rigorous hand washing with soap and water by passengers and crewmembers.
Who is Required to Wear a Life Vest in Florida? (2006)
Category: Safety at Sea
Last week, two children, 8 and 5, drowned in a Florida Lake. The FWC had considered filing charges against the parents because one of the children, who was under age 6, wasn't wearing a life vest. The FWC has decided not to press charges, but families need to know what the law is.
Florida Statutes 327.50 entitled "Vessel safety regulations; equipment and lighting requirements" says:
(b) No person shall operate a vessel less than 26 feet in length on the waters of this state unless every person under 6 years of age on board the vessel is wearing a type I, type II, or type III Coast Guard approved personal flotation device while such vessel is underway. For the purpose of this section, "underway" shall mean at all times except when a vessel is anchored, moored, made fast to the shore, or aground.
So that's the law in 2006:
Less than 26 foot long boat.
Children under 6 years of age.
At all times except when anchored, docked, moored, or aground.
Violation is a non-criminal infraction carrying a fine of $50.
NTSB finds Caterpillar Instruction Manuals Defective
Category: Safety at Sea
The NTSB has issued its final report on the sinking of the Express Shuttle II in the Pithlachascotee River near New Port Richey, Florida. The fire occurred on October 17, 2004 and resulted in the total destruction of the vessel, which had just dropped off 78 passengers and only had the Captain and two crewmembers aboard at the time of the fire. The boat was a total loss and had a value in excess of $800,000.
Among its conclusions was that the Caterpillar instruction manuals were defective since they did not show the correct placement of vibration clips, or the proper method of removing and replacing a single fuel line on Caterpillar engines.
NTSB issues 3000 pages of Data on Lake George "Ethan Allen" Sinking
Category: Safety at Sea
The "Free Surface Effect" and overloading may have caused the sinking of the tour boat Ethan Allen on October 22nd, 2005.
On Friday, June 30, 2006 at 12:00 the NTSB issued 3000 pages of raw data explaining the investigation they have undertaken into the sinking of the Saratoga based tour boat on Lake George in which 48 people were thrown into the water, 20 of whom died. Most of the deceased were elderly tourists from Ohio and Michigan.
While the data included no conclusions, it tended to indicated that the Ethan Allen was overloaded when it capsized and that a malfunctioning water pump may have allowed the boat bottom to fill with water. The presence of water in the bilge of a boat can cause something called the free surface effect.
Free surface effect was also implicated in the sinking of the Al-Salam Boccaccio in the Red Sea in February, 2006.
Robert Moran of Boyton Beach arrested for making False Distress Call to Coast Guard
Category: Safety at Sea
On June 11 at 2300 the United States Coast Guard received a distress call. The caller told dispatchers that his 33-foot Grady-White sport fishing boat, named the "Blue Sheep", was sinking near Boynton Beach Inlet. He also reported that eight other people were aboard, including four children and his wife, who was bleeding from her leg. He spoke with the Coast Guard for over an hour and told the Coast Guard his last name was Tobin.
The Coast Guard searched for the vessel on June 12th and 13th before giving up after finding no debris or floatsam.
Mr. "Tobin" has now been identified as Robert Moran, a 45 year old unemployed tow truck driver who had quit his job after suffering a back injury. He was arrested after an anonymous caller recognized his voice when recordings of the distress calls were played on the local news channels.
When Rescue 21 is in place, the Coast Guard will be able to pinpoint such calls, find out if they are coming from ashore or at sea, and eliminate some of the false distress calls which happen from time to time.
What is Rescue 21? Does it intrude upon your privacy?
Category: Safety at Sea
Rescue 21 is the new name for the U.S. Coast Guard radio system formerly known as National Distress and Response System Modernization Program (NDRSMP). It is supposed to be a network of large radio beacons which would permit the Coast Guard, through triangulation, to pinpoint the location of a radio distress signal. That is, of course, a good thing but that is not all it does.
We assign Congress the responsibility of seeing whether a project like this is economically justified and some must be wondering at this point whether it is. The system was estimated to cost $250 million ($1 per person) in 1999. Today, the cost is projected at $710 million ($2.84 per person). Is that too much? I don't know. I do know that even as a law abiding citizen, I worry about surrendering too much privacy to the government.
So far, a single radio tower is operational in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It is unclear whether the tower at the Eastern Shore of Virginia is operating yet. The next one to come on line will be in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The first rescue attributed to the system was made in November 2005. Full operating capacity is estimated to occur in 2011.
The question which I have is whether this creates a whole new level of complexity for boat operators and whether I want the Coast Guard to be able to track every movement of every boat on the water. According to the Coast Guard to identify the boater's position boaters "must register for a Mobile Maritime Service Identity (MMSI) Number and connect their DSC (digital selective calling) radio to their GPS receiver." Does that mean the Coast Guard will be tracking all boat traffic the way air traffic controllers track all aircraft traffic? Can they poll your MMSI at any time and find out where your DSC radio is? Do they need a warrant to do it, or is it a public radio signal which any govenmental agency can access at anytime. Is this a mandatory system? If you don't have it on, does that mean that the Coast Guard will assume you are doing something illegal?
According to the Coast Guard "Rescue 21 will be used to protect our maritime borders. Law Enforcement and Coast Guard assets will use the VHF - FM communications suite to intercept targets of interest and pass vital information. Rescue 21 will be a conduit for providing protected communications on Coast Guard assets."
My concern is that while this is being billed as a search and rescue tool, it is really more of a national security tool. If so, how much tracking is warranted for national security? How much privacy should people have while they are in their boats?
8 Airboaters Lost in Everglades located by 3 helicopters from BSO, Miami Fire Rescue and FWC
Category: Safety at Sea
On Friday, June 9, 2006 a man and a woman left to go airboating in the Florida Everglades. When they failed to return, a group of 6 of their friends went searching for them on Saturday in a second airboat. When they too got lost, or ran out of gas, they called 911 at about 1 a.m. on Sunday, June 11.
The second airboat was able to give GPS coordinates but because of the storm clutter from Tropical Storm Alberto, the rescue helicopter from the Broward Sheriff's Office was unable to locate them until 0530 Sunday morning.
At 1000 a.m. a helicopter from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spotted the first airboat. A Miami-Dade Fire Rescue helicopter participated in hauling the people out of the Everglades and taking them to BSO's fire station on Alligator Alley, from which they were released.
No Insurance Coverage when Boat being used to smuggle aliens
Category: Safety at Sea
According to "The Log", a Southern California boating newspapers, a number of Iraqis illegally crossed into the United States last November using a 37 ft. pleasure boat to evade Immigration. The boat was registered to an owner in El Cajon, a suburb of San Diego. It is suspected that on November 20, 2005 the owner put in the water in San Diego and drove to Baja's Rosarito Beach. From there, it is believed that the passengers swam out to the boat. However, during the voyage north a polypropelene line wrapped around one of their shafts and the boat was forced to call for help.
A radio call was made to a towing company, most likely either Sea Tow or Tow Boat US, that a pleasure boat needed a tow from Mexican waters to San Diego. After the towboat arrived the people aboard found out that the towboat Captain was required to bring tows picked up in Mexican waters to the U.S. Customs dock. When they found out, the boaters offered the captain cash to avoid Customs but he refused and radioed the Coast Guard.
Customs officers met the boat at the dock and the towboat left. A short time later the boat was sinking at the dock.
Apparently It is not unusual for Iraqi nationals to try to enter the United States at San Diego. Most often, they come by land seeking asylum. They favor San Diego because it has a large Iraqi population. "We do have Iraqis that show up at ports of entry,"spokesman Vince Bond said. "Generally, they are Chaldean Christians who are told by family members or someone else to get to the United States from Mexico. They typically walk to the border and ask for asylum for religious or political reasons." The Iraqi nationals are processed and granted what is called a credible-fear hearing, he said. At that time, a judge determines whether the individual's circumstances meet federally established criteria for asylum.
Does the owner's insurance cover the sinking? Probably not. If a boat is being used for an illegal purpose, the coverage is voided. The theory is that illegal trips subject the boat to dangers and stresses which the boat would never experience if it was being used as a pleasure boat for recreational purposes.
On example is this----if the Coast Guard seizes the boat, they have no obligation to bring it to shore or tow it safely. When the Coast Guard seizes a boat they are excercising a "Customs Function" and customs functions are excluded from the waiver of statutory immunity under the Federal Tort Claims Act. In short, they have sovereign immunity and they can do whatever they want with the boat, including sinking it.
The Coast Guard has been known to intentionally tow boats which have been seized with marijuana residue in tanks and holds, at a high speed by their bow sprint which, on wooden boats, causes them to fall apart and sink.
If they do that, there is no cause of action against the Coast Guard.
Lido Beach-Suspect on Jet Ski leads Sarasota Police on a Chase
Category: Safety at Sea
Police arrested Tyrell L. Leverett, 18, after he tried to flee from the Sarasota Police Marine Patrol on a jet ski.
The Officers saw Leverett operating his jet ski recklessly near Big Pass but when they tried to stop him, Leverett sped away toward Lido Beach. When he got to the beach he took off his life jacket and started running.
He was caught, arrested, and charged with fleeing and to eluding and reckless operation of a watercraft.
St. Andrews State Park--3 year old girl lost in current
Category: Safety at Sea
St. Petersburg Times
Search called off for girl pulled off raft by current
PANAMA CITY BEACH - The Coast Guard called off a search Monday for a missing 3-year-old Georgia girl who was caught by a strong current while swimming.
The girl was floating on a raft Sunday with an 18-year-old family friend in a shallow swimming area at St. Andrews State Park when a rough current flipped the raft and pulled both girls into the channel, Petty Officer Shawn McGivern said.
"(The older girl) was recovered by a good Samaritan, but they were unable to locate the child," McGivern said.
The 3-year-old girl's name was not released. Officials said she was from Morrow, Ga.
The Bay County Sheriff's Office, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Navy divers and three helicopters joined the Coast Guard in the search, which extended as far as 11 miles out, before officials called it off around 1:30 p.m.
American Maritime Cases--An Anachronism
Category: Safety at Sea
American Maritime Cases is a source which has been relied upon by maritime attorneys for decades. However, a noticeable bias has developed in the past few years which is causing many attorneys, myself included, to forego citing to it in our briefs and legal opinions.
The reason is that AMC has become a publication of the "defense bar." The editorial board is dominated by attorneys representing Protection and Indemnity Associations, insurance companies, shipowners, and other defense interests.
In order to get a case published in AMC you need to submit it to a member of the editorial board who must find it to be noteworthy and then recommend it for publication. The problem is that defense attorneys seldom find cases in which the Plaintiffs win to be noteworthy, and hence they refuse to publish them.
Other, more subtle techniques of avoiding the publication of cases where Plaintiffs win is by erecting procedural barriers to publication. I once had three cases which I considered noteworthy, all of which were favorable to Plaintiffs. I submitted them to the local member of editorial board, who happened to be a defense attorney who represented the Protection and Indemnity Clubs. He lost the cases (or so he said). I sent him another copy. He lost them again. I sent a third copy---lost again. Obviously they were never going to be published, so I gave up.
I represent an importer of men's suits and jackets. There are a number of cases out of the Southern District of Florida, the State Courts of Florida, and the Southern District of New York finding that each suit, which is packaged in a plastic bag, is a package. One case found that they were not packages. I've tried for years to get the other cases published, but AMC simply wont do it. They don't want adverse case law to become well known so they don't publish it.
With the availability of LEXIS and Westlaw, AMC is an anachronism. I stopped purchasing the volumes last year. If you are looking for a complete set from 1916 to 2005, let me know.
Asset Protection for Harbor Pilots
Category: Safety at Sea
For hundreds of years it has been the practice in admiralty and maritime case that parties injured in a maritime collision, or due to wake damage, don't sue harbor pilots but only sue the owner of the ship which causes the accident. However, since more and more maritime injury cases are being handled by non-maritime attorneys, that practice is changing.
The reason why maritime attorneys didn't sue the pilots is because harbor pilots are uninsured. They are unable to obtain liability insurance for accidents they may cause or contribute to because such insurance is not commercially available. It never has been. Consequently, a plaintiff who sues a harbor pilot is going after the pilot's assets, not just some insurance company.
To protect their assets, most pilots are individually incorporated and hold their assets jointly with their wives. However, some are even looking for better forms of asset protection. Asset protection trusts, inter vivos transfers to their children and other, more aggressive asset protection methods, all of which are perfectly legal, are becoming more common.
If you are a pilot and need help in protecting your assets, contact me. I can help.
If you are injured by a ship under pilotage, either in a collision or through wake damage, make sure your attorney knows maritime law.
If you hired a non-maritime attorney to handle a maritime case, and he failed to arrest the ship to secure your recovery, call me as well. Not arresting the ship while it is in the United States, and before the 3 year statute of limitations runs, could be malpractice.
No such thing as "life salvage"
Category: Safety at Sea
If you rescue someone on the high tomorrow, are you entitled to a reward? It depends on what you rescue.
When property is lost at sea and rescued by another, the rescuer is entitled to claim a salvage award on the salved property. There is no "life salvage." All mariners have a duty to save the lives of others in peril without expectation of reward. Consequently salvage law applies only to the saving of property.
In short, if you save people at sea, you might also want to try to save their boat as well. While you'll get your reward in heaven for rescuing the people, your reward for rescuing the boat will be more immediate.
I've taken over the Wikipedia article on Admiralty Law
Category: Safety at Sea
If you've ever Googled anything, one of the entries you've probably come across is Wikipedia, the free on-line encyclopedia.
The Admiralty Law section of the encyclopedia was in pretty bad shape---full of misinformation and outright incorrect assertions. I couldn't stand it so l looked into how to change it. It turns out to be remarkably easy.
While you get no by-line or credit for it, anyone can add to or change the Wikipedia content, as long as they are willing to give their names for attribution. I did it, and now I've sort of adopted the Admiralty Law section as my own.
It is a work of progress, but if you would care to view it, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Admiralty_law
After 110 yearrs, Is Comite Maritime International Still Relevant?
Category: Safety at Sea
The CMI is coming up on its 110th anniversary.
About 9 years ago I was privileged to be a U.S. alternate delegate to the 100th anniversary meeting of the CMI in Antwerp, Belgium. I loved it. It was a gathering of the 500 or so most erudite maritime lawyers in the world and the level of exchange was thrilling. The proceedings were conducted in French and English, occassionally in Flemish (after all, we were in Belgium), but surprisingly I was able to follow what was going on no matter what the language was. I was even permitted to address the group even though I was only an alternate delegate.
Prior to the mid-1970's most international conventions concerning maritime trade and commerce originated in the Comite Maritime Internationale (International Maritime Committee or simply the "CMI.") It was founded in 1898, and it I was responsible for the drafting of numerous international conventions including the Hague Rules regarding Bills of Lading) the Visby Amendments, the Salvage Convention and many others. While the CMI continues to function in an advisory capacity, many of its functions have been taken over by the International Maritime Organization, and arm of the U.N. The IMO was established by the United Nations in 1958 but which didn't become truly effective until about 1974.
The IMO has prepared numerous international conventions concerning maritime safety including the Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS), the Standards for Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping (STCW), the Collision Regulations (COLREGS), Martime Pollution Regulations (MARPOL), Maritime Search and Rescue Convention (SAR) and others.
In light of the fact that the functions previously performed by the CMI (for free, by the way) have now been taken over by an inter-governmental organization (at taxpayer expense), the question must be asked, Is the CMI still relevant? Is it now just a social gathering of maritime lawyers?
If you'd like to learn more about CMI, here is their link: http://www.comitemaritime.org/
What Caused the Al-Salam Boccaccio 98 to Sink?
Category: Safety at Sea
The Egyptian Ferry Al-Salam Boccaccio 98 sank in the early morning hours of Friday, February 3, 2006. To understand what happened, we need to have some answers. Here are some possible explanations:
Where does the water come from and more importantly, where does it go?
Failing to de-water ships during fire fighting is the most common reason for ships on fire to sink. In this case, the fire started either in the engine room, or in a truck on one of the vehicle decks. Fire pumps were started, hoses were strung, and the crew pour tons and tons of seawater onto whatever was burning.
The problem is that fire pumps and their related piping have a huge capacity. Bilge pumps and bilge piping, by comparison, have a capacity which is usually less than half the capacity of the fire pumps. Consequently, even if the engineers line up all the valves correctly, and pump as fast as the pumps will go, the firefighting crews are adding tons of water to the deck every minute. Where is that water going?
The water is collecting on deck, or it is draining to the lower decks. If one deck produces a certain "free surface effect", then two decks awash creates twice as much.
What is "the free surface effect"?
Water is heavy and water is dense. When water collects on the vehicle deck of a ro-ro ship it shifts back and forth, piling up against each side of the ship, causing it to roll further and further to each side. One time, the water piles up too high and the ship just rolls over. This shifting of water back and forth is called "free surface effect."
If you've even seen the novelty item called "The Wave" you know what it is. "The Wave" is a clear Lucite channel filled with a heavy blue liquid and a lighter clear liquid. The channel is rocked back and forth and the blue liquid creates a wave inside. Imagine you are looking at a cross section of a ship and you can see water the free surface effect can do.
Were there adequate lifeboats and life rafts?
Yes, there were. The ship had ten large lifeboats, each of which can hold about 100 people, and 88 life rafts, each of which can hold 25 people. That is a lifesaving capacity for 3200 people. There were only 1400 people on board.
Why didn't the passengers get off?
The weather was bad. It was dark. The ship continued to move through the water to Safaga, their destination. It was only 3 hours away.
Most of the passengers didn't realize what grave danger they were in. The ship was rolling gently because it was "tender" and the danger of it rolling over probably wasn't apparent, even to the ship's Captain.
The lifeboats can't be launched with the ship underway at full speed. Unless the ship slowed down, there was no way to get the lifeboats into the water.
The lifeboats can't be lowered when the ship is listing to one side. Lifeboats are designed to be launched with a maximum 15 degree list. If the ship was listing more than 15 degrees to port (the left side of the ship), the lifeboats on the port side would be launched too far away to be accessed from the decks. The passengers would have no way to get in. The lifeboats on the starboard side (right) would be sliding down the side of the ship and may have too much friction and resistance to make it to the water.
The life rafts can be thrown over the side, but what chance, in high winds, does a passenger have of throwing a life raft over the side of a moving vessel, jumping over the side in the dark, and then catching up with the life raft? None. The winds will simply blow the inflated life raft away before anyone can board.
If the ship was stopped, the likelihood of getting it safely to a port and a shipyard is small. It will most likely burn in place, then sink. The Captain made a choice-he tried to save the ship, but he did it at the expense of the passengers. If he had save both the ship and the passengers, he would have been a hero. Instead, he lost both.
Why are ro-ro ships inherently unstable?
There are two reasons. First, as cars and trucks drive on and off they raise the center of gravity of the ship. This makes ro-ro ships more "tender"---- meaning that they roll more slowly, gently, but also farther over. Ships with lower centers of gravity are said to be "stiff." They roll more quickly in shorter, snappier rolls-but they also don't roll as far.
Ignorance is bliss. If a ship is gently rolling from side to side, it is hard to believe that you are in danger of rolling over.
Secondly, roll-on, roll-off ships need a long central corridor. This is so that cars and trucks can drive from the entrance point to all points on the ship. This long, wide, open space creates some problems. The first is the free surface effect.
What was wrong with this particular ro-ro ship?
This ship was designed to carry ro-ro cargo (i.e. cargo containers on flat bed trucks). In 1990 it was modified to become a passenger ferry. Two passenger decks were add on top of the hull. The beam was increased by just two meters. The addition of heavy steel passenger compartments high on the ship raised its center of gravity and made it more likely to tip over.
The Al Salam 95, a sister ship of the ferry which sunk last week, sank in the Red Sea in October after a collision. Most of the passengers were saved from that sinking.
Copyright, Rod Sullivan, February 6, 2006
Canoeists Should Stay with Overturned Canoe
Category: Safety at Sea
Two men in their late twenties were out fishing from a canoe when one of them, who wasn't that comfortable around the water, decided he needed to urinate. Having no cup to pee into, and not wanting to pee in the boat, he knelt in the canoe and began peeing over one side. Unfortunately he lost his balance and capsized the canoe, putting he and his brother-in-law into the water.
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No "Finders Keepers" in Salvage of R.M.S. Titanic
Category: Safety at Sea
Over 1800 artifacts from the R.M.S. Titanic have been raised and shown in museums around the world. Chicago's Museum of Science and History sells out its ticket sales on a regular basis. However, the question has arisen: can the artifacts be sold?
Under the law of salvage, which includes treasure salvage, the salvor has a lien on the property he recovers--he doesn't own it. The original owner retains title to it. This has resulted in some curious outcomes.
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A Joke only a Maritime Lawyer Would Enjoy
Category: Safety at Sea
An old Third Mate once spotted a deck cadet on the bridge of a ship on the first night of his first voyage to sea, studying the "Lights and Shapes" section of the International Rules of the Road. The cadet was trying to figure out what all those red, white, and green lights were that he could see on the horizon. For example, he knew that if saw a ship's red light at night he was seeing a ship's port or left side (Port wine is red), if he saw a green light he was looking at the ship's starboard side, but that if he saw both red and green lights, the ship was heading straight towards him.
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Lights at Night is Key to Reducing Boating Accidents
Category: Safety at Sea
High profile boating casualties like those of Bonefish Grill owner Chris Parker's usually fuel calls for boating speed limits and more boater education. However, boating fatalities are down substantially from where they were ten years ago, even though speeds are up, and most fatalities occur to experienced boaters, not newcomers. Collision with fixed objects, particularly at night, tends to be the largest contributing factor. Lives could be saved by better enforcement of lighting requirements on floating objects like barges, dredges, and dredge pipelines. It's not sexy, but it's the fact.
Jet Skier and Wind Surfer Collide - Dad is Liable
Category: Safety at Sea
Can Dad be liable if he lets his otherwise responsible son go out with the jet ski? Yup.
F.A., a 22 year old young man was wind-surfing in a North-South direction when he was
run over by N.G., a 13 year old boy who was operating a jet ski in a West-East direction. L.G., the father of the 13 year old boy had purchased the jet ski less than a month before. The wind surfer had his leg amputated. The father of the 13 year old operator was found liable.
Can a father protect himself? Yup. Read on:
Most non-maritime lawyers who handle these cases know nothing of the Limitation of Liability Act. There are circumstances where the owner of a jet ski can limit his or her liability for accidents caused by a third
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USCG: Bow Mariner Final Report
Category: Boat, Ship and Marina Fires
Twenty-one men died 200 miles off the coast of New Jersey in February 2004 when the M/V Bow Mariner exploded shortly after discharging a cargo of volatile petroleum product called MTBE--Methyl Tert Butyl Ether. The ship sank in about an hour an a half. Only six men, including the Captain and Chief Engineer, who abandoned ship 10 minutes after the explosion, survived.
Now the Coast Guard has issued its final report which puts blame on the decision of the Captain to open 22 cargo tanks for gas freeing. The Coast Guard says that the gas freeing operation caused flammable gases to accumulate on deck, leading to an explosion. It was quickly followed by two more explosions which racked the ship's structure.
The report has some good suggestions, like supplying seamen with immersion suits to prevent against hypothermia. However, its conclusions about the cause and origin of the fire are implausible. Generally, a ship moving through the ocean at 15 knots will not experience any accumulation of flammable vapors on deck because the air flow simply takes the vapors over the side. An explosion inside a tank is more likely.
GPS Manufacturer Lowrance Electronics bought by Norwegian Company
Category: Safety at Sea
One of the important technical advances for boaters, shipping companies and pilots has been the development of portable GPS systems which are inexpensive enough to be carried aboard even small boats. The Sandy Hook Pilot Association has equipped each of their pilots with laptop computers with GPS technology built in. Today is was announced that one the the U.S.'s biggest manufacturers of GPS systems for marine use, Lowrance Electronics Inc. of Tulsa, Okla. (NASDAQ-LEIX), has been sold to Norway's Simrad Yachting AS for about $215 million or $37 per share.
Simrad has traditionally focused on the commercial fishing side of the business while Lowrance has been a big player in the U.S. recreational boating industry.
Lights at Night on River can Be Confusing
Category: Safety at Sea
CWO Mike Cooke from the United States Coast Guard, Marine Safety Office in Jacksonville recently relayed to me an actual incident where a father instructed his son that "at night, just keep your boat heading in between the red and green channel marker lights and your boat will always be in the center of the channel." The father then turned the helm over to his son and went below. The young man dutifully followed his father's advice, and safely passed between the channel markers, but soon couldn't figure out what the flashing yellow light was between the next set of red and green lights. He kept his heading until he ran the boat straight into the bow of an oncoming barge, which carried a red light on the port side, a green light on the starboard, and a flashing yellow barge light in the center.
USCG Metomkin Tries to Save Thrill Seekers
Category: Safety at Sea
For years it has been common for thrill seekers to load their speedboats with extra fuel barrels to make the trip across the Florida Straits to the North Coast of Cuba, a destination which is forbidden to Americans. One recent trip ended badly.
During the trip back to Florida the boat caught on fire while still 40 miles from Key West. The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Metomkin responded to distress call. When they arrived they could see two men in the water but one slipped below the surface and drowned before he could be rescued. The other was recovered and suffered burns to his arms and face. The two men were apparently the only two aboard the boat.
Coast Guard is Wrong In Alcohol-Related Accident Statistics
Category: Safety at Sea
A recent radio ad campaign by the Coast Guard asserts that 60% of boat accidents are alcohol related. Let me pull no punches: The Coast Guard's statistics on alcohol and boating accidents are wrong.
The Coast Guard has been patterning its thinking on road accident statistics where alcohol is a major factor in causing collisions. It has also been following the recommendations of the NIAAA. It needs to use its expertise in boating matters and exercise more independent thought when it comes to "alcohol related accidents" on boats.
On the road, alcohol causes accidents because driving requires good eye-hand coordination to keep a vehicle, moving at a high speed, between the lines. On the road, alcohol causes accidents because driving requires quick reflexes to stomp on the brakes when an obstruction is seen ahead. Alcohol inhibits eye-hand coordination and slow down reflexes.
A different set of skills is necessary to operate a boat. Oceans and rivers don't have any white and yellow lines on them yet, and brakes for boats are years from being developed.
Boats and cars are different.
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Jet Skis and Limitations on Liability
Category: Safety at Sea
Jacksonville attorney Bruce Bulloch recently told me the story of two New Yorkers who visited Jacksonville and were fishing from an anchored boat on the St. Johns River when a jet skier passed a little to close to them. One of the fishermen pulled up his line, cast at the passing jet skier and snagged him by the collar of his life vest, yanking him backwards off his jet ski and into the water. Then he reeled him alongside his boat, took out a knife, and gently pried the hook from the vest, and dropped him back into the water. His friend looked at him, smiled and commented, "not bad for 20 lb. test."
Teenage Boys Survive Being Stranded at Sea
Category: Safety at Sea
Don't Drink Seawater!!!
Two teenagers, Josh Long (17) and Troy Driscoll (15) from North Charleston South Carolina launched their 14 foot SunFish sailboat for a short shark fishing trip and ended up adrift for six days before they were found by a passing commercial fishing boat off Cape Fear, 100 miles away. The boys had brought one paddle and no food or water along with them.
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Depression Medication Requirements for Seamen
Category: Safety at Sea
The Coast Guard has been tightening up their physical requirements for seamen for years, but some of the effects of that are just being felt now. One of those effects is the ability of seamen with major depression to return to work after they start taking depression medication.
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