"[2] Whether or not such an investigation is conducted for an admiralty incident, there may be tort claims in federal court for the injured parties if they are unsatisfied with the Secretary's settlement.
One of the unique aspects of maritime law is the ability of a shipowner to limit its liability to the value of a ship after a major accident.
Even though the Titanic had never been to the United States, upon her sinking the owners rushed into the federal courts in New York to file a limitation of liability proceeding.
An unusual application involved the case Grubart v. Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company, where a vessel performing piling operations in the Chicago River punctured a tunnel and caused the 1992 Chicago flood of many underground areas of the city’s downtown; the courts ruled that the vessel was in navigable waters covered by the admiralty law limitation clause.
[1] Many shipping contracts include "safe berth" clauses that assure that the area around the intended dock is clear for the arriving vessel.
This has been determined by the Supreme Court to be a warranty of safety from the entity requesting the shipping, placing the burden of clearing the area and any subsequently liability for failure to do so on that entity rather than the vessel owner, as determined in the 2020 case CITGO Asphalt Refining Co. v. Frescati Shipping Co. resulting from the oil spill on the Delaware River in 2004.
Claims for damage to cargo shipped by ocean carrier in international commerce into and out of the United States are governed by the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act (COGSA), which is the U.S. enactment of the Hague Rules.
Federal Courts in the United States, however, are reluctant to treat an ocean shipping container as a single COGSA package.
Seamen injured aboard ship have three possible sources of compensation: the principle of maintenance and cure, the doctrine of unseaworthiness, and the Jones Act.
The Jones Act allows a sailor, or one in privity to him, to sue the shipowner in tort for personal injury or wrongful death, with trial by jury.
Not every worker injured on board a vessel is a "seaman" entitled to the protections offered by the Jones Act, doctrine of unseaworthiness, and principle of maintenance and cure.
[8] The payment of the loan should be issued to the U.S. Department of State through the Comptroller and Global Financial Services [2] office, in full and on time.