David Wright Charter Service of North Carolina, Inc. v. Wright

• Decision Date: 20 February 1991
• Docket Number: No. 90-1746,90-1746
• Citation: 925 F.2d 783
• Parties: DAVID WRIGHT CHARTER SERVICE OF NORTH CAROLINA, INCORPORATED, as owner of the charter fishing vessel HIGH HOPES for exoneration from or limitation of liability, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. J. David WRIGHT; Hazel Jernigan Seals, Mother and Administratrix of the Estate of Ronald Benjamin Seals, Deceased; Jordan Marine Service, Incorporated, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

Page 783

925 F.2d 783

1991 A.M.C. 2927

DAVID WRIGHT CHARTER SERVICE OF NORTH CAROLINA INCORPORATED, as owner of the charter fishing vessel HIGH HOPES for exoneration from or limitation of liability Plaintiff-Appellant, v. J. David WRIGHT; Hazel Jernigan Seals, Mother and Administratrix of the Estate of Ronald Benjamin Seals, Deceased; Jordan Marine Service Incorporated, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 90-1746.

United States Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit.

Argued Oct. 30, 1990.

Decided Feb. 20, 1991.

Rice Arthur Jett, Jr., argued, Jett, Berkley, Furr & Padgett (John R. Crumpler, Jr., Kaufman & Canoles, of counsel), Norfolk, Va., for plaintiff-appellant.

Ralph Rabinowitz, argued, Rabinowitz, Rafal, Swartz & Gilbert, P.C. (Jeffrey A. Breit, Breit, Drescher & Breit, Morton H. Clark, Vandeventer, Black, Meredith & Martin, of counsel), Norfolk, Va., for defendants-appellees.

Before POWELL, Associate Justice, Retired, United States Supreme Court, sitting by designation, PHILLIPS, Circuit Judge, and BUTZNER, Senior Circuit Judge.

PER CURIAM:

David Wright Charter Service (Charter) appeals the district court's dismissal of its complaint for exoneration from or limitation of liability for damages resulting from a fire and explosion on its ship, High Hopes. The district court concluded that it lacked admiralty jurisdiction because the fire occurred five months after the ship was placed on blocks to undergo repairs in a shed located 75 feet from the water. We affirm.

Ronald B. Seals, who was repairing the High Hopes when it exploded, was killed. David Wright was injured, and Jordan Marine Services, Inc. (Jordan) suffered property damages. The fire and explosion destroyed the ship. Its salvage value is $25,000.

Charter filed a complaint for limitation or exoneration from liability under the Limitation of Liability Act, 46 U.S.C.App. Sec. 183 et seq. Seals's administratrix (Seals), Wright, and Jordan filed claims. Charter filed a counterclaim against Jordan for damages to the vessel. Seals, joined by Wright, filed a motion to dismiss the limitation complaint for lack of admiralty jurisdiction. The district court granted the motion, and Charter appealed.

I

Charter assigns as a basis of jurisdiction 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1333, which confers on district courts original jurisdiction in admiralty and maritime civil cases. With respect to torts involving vessels, a series of Supreme Court cases confine admiralty jurisdiction to actions for wrongs that occur on navigable waters and bear a sufficient relation to a maritime activity. Sisson v. Ruby, --- U.S. ----, 110 S.Ct. 2892, 111 L.Ed.2d 292 (1990); Foremost Ins. Co. v. Richardson, 457 U.S. 668, 102 S.Ct. 2654, 73 L.Ed.2d 300 (1982); Executive Jet Aviation v. Cleveland, 409 U.S. 249, 93 S.Ct. 493, 34 L.Ed.2d 454 (1972); Victory Carriers, Inc. v. Law, 404 U.S. 202, 92 S.Ct. 418, 30 L.Ed.2d 383 (1971). Consequently, Seals's claim for wrongful death and Wright's claim for personal injuries caused by the fire and explosion on Charter's vessel while it was on blocks in a shed do not satisfy the situs test for admiralty jurisdiction.

Charter, nevertheless, seeks to bring these tort claims within admiralty jurisdiction because it had contracted with Jordan for repairs to the vessel. It asserts that since the vessel was not withdrawn from navigation, the contract was subject to admiralty jurisdiction and the court should exercise ancillary jurisdiction over the torts.

A contract between a vessel owner and a repair facility for work on a vessel that has not been withdrawn from navigation is within admiralty jurisdiction. American Eastern Development Corp. v. Everglades Marina, Inc., 608 F.2d 123 (5th Cir.1979). Moreover, when the owner joins a breach of contract claim and a negligence claim arising out of the same facts, a court may properly exercise ancillary jurisdiction over the owner's negligence claim against the repair facility even though the tort occurred when the vessel was not on navigable waters. Omaha Indemnity Co. v. Whaleneck Harbor Marina, Inc., 610 F.Supp. 154 (E.D.N.Y.1985). These principles, however, are not applicable to the claims of Seals and Wright against Charter. Neither Seals nor Wright were parties to the repair contract. They have not made any claim for breach of contract. They complain only of a tort that occurred on land.

We conclude, therefore, that Sec. 1333 does not confer admiralty jurisdiction over the tort claims that Seals and Wright asserted in the limitation proceeding.

II

Charter argues that even though Sec. 1333 does not confer admiralty jurisdiction, the Limitation of Liability Act, 46 U.S.C.App. Sec. 183 et seq., provides an independent source of admiralty jurisdiction. Charter relies primarily on Richardson v. Harmon, 222 U.S. 96, 32 S.Ct. 27, 56 L.Ed. 110 (1911), in which the Court extended admiralty jurisdiction to permit the owner of a vessel that collided with a bridge abutment to limit its liability by application of the Limitation Act. The Court anticipated by judicial decision a maritime policy that Congress recognized in the Extension of Admiralty...