Great Lakes Exploration v. Wrecked Sailing Vessel

• Decision Date: 22 April 2008
• Docket Number: No. 06-2584.,06-2584.
• Citation: 522 F.3d 682
• Parties: GREAT LAKES EXPLORATION GROUP, LLC, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. UNIDENTIFIED WRECKED AND (FOR SALVAGE-RIGHT PURPOSES), ABANDONED SAILING VESSEL, etc., Defendant, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries, Intervenors-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

522 F.3d 682

GREAT LAKES EXPLORATION GROUP, LLC, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. UNIDENTIFIED WRECKED AND (FOR SALVAGE-RIGHT PURPOSES), ABANDONED SAILING VESSEL, etc., Defendant, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries, Intervenors-Appellees.

No. 06-2584.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued: March 12, 2008.

Decided and Filed: April 22, 2008.

ARGUED: Richard T. Robol, Robol Law Office, LPA, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellant. James R. Piggush, Michigan Department of the Attorney General, Lansing, Michigan, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Richard T. Robol, Robol Law Office, LPA, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellant. James R. Piggush, Michigan Department of the Attorney General, Lansing, Michigan, for Appellee.

Before: KEITH, CLAY, and GILMAN, Circuit Judges.

OPINION

RONALD LEE GILMAN, Circuit Judge.

Great Lakes Exploration Group, LLC (GLEG), a private underwater exploration and salvage company, brought an in rem admiralty action seeking an arrest warrant for an ancient sailing vessel (The Griffin) that sank in Lake Michigan in the 1600s. The state of Michigan intervened to claim title to the vessel pursuant to the Abandoned Shipwreck Act (ASA), 43 U.S.C. §§ 2101-2106. Under the ASA, when a state does not have actual possession of a shipwreck, the state may establish title if it can show that the vessel is both (1) abandoned, and (2) embedded in the state's submerged lands. Once a state acquires actual possession of a shipwreck, however, the Eleventh Amendment applies and the federal courts lack jurisdiction over the claim.

In the present case, the district court ordered GLEG to disclose the precise location of the vessel so that Michigan could investigate whether the shipwreck was "embedded" within the meaning of the ASA. The court also decided that it would not arrest the vessel until its precise location was disclosed to the state. GLEG refused, arguing that without additional protections to safeguard federal jurisdiction, such as arrest of the shipwreck, the state would be free to claim Eleventh Amendment immunity and divest the district court of jurisdiction. The district court then dismissed GLEG's complaint without prejudice for failure to comply with the court's order.

For the reasons set forth below, we conclude that a district court may require a salvor to reveal the precise location of a shipwreck at the pleading stage where (1) there is a need for the precise location because, for example, the embedded status of the shipwreck under the ASA is in dispute, (2) the requested information is available and in the salvor's possession, and (3) the district court has taken sufficient steps to secure federal jurisdiction over the claim and, when warranted, to protect the information from public disclosure. We therefore REVERSE the judgment of the district court dismissing GLEG's claim and REMAND the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. BACKGROUND

GLEG contends that it has found the wreckage of The Griffin, one of the first sailing ships to navigate on the Great Lakes. The Griffin was a French vessel commanded by the explorer Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, and was last seen on September 18, 1670 when it set sail for Niagara.

On June 7, 2004, GLEG filed an in rem admiralty action regarding a shipwreck found in Lake Michigan. GLEG requested that it be appointed custodian for the shipwreck and that the court arrest the vessel. In an in rem admiralty action, the arrest of a shipwreck is the procedure by which a salvor establishes jurisdiction in federal court. See 2-II Benedict on Admiralty § 22 (2007) (explaining that "an admiralty court by seizure in rem acquires jurisdiction of all interests in the res"); 2 Am.Jur.2d Admiralty § 32 (2007) ("Generally, to complete the court's jurisdiction, the res must be seized and be under the control of the court.").

The district court concluded that there was an insufficient basis for issuing a warrant for the arrest of The Griffin because GLEG's complaint did not comply with the pleading requirements of the Federal Civil Procedure Supplemental Rules for Certain Admiralty and Maritime Claims (the Supplemental Rules), which require that the res at issue (i.e., the shipwreck) be described with "reasonable particularity." Fed.R.Civ.P. Suppl. C(2)(b). GLEG then filed an amended complaint, identifying the vessel as The Griffin and adding additional details to the original description. Before the court acted on GLEG's amended complaint, the state of Michigan, through the Michigan Department of History, Arts, and Libraries and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (collectively "Michigan"), sought to intervene in the case to assert title to the shipwreck under the ASA. The district court granted Michigan's motion to intervene.

Michigan then filed a motion to dismiss, claiming that (1) GLEG's complaint was insufficient under the Supplemental Rules because it did not state the precise location of the vessel, and (2) the federal court lacked jurisdiction over the case because, under the ASA, the shipwreck belonged to Michigan. The district court denied Michigan's motion based on the court's "anticipat[ion] that the wreck's precise location [would] be filed under seal with [the] Court."

On July 13, 2005, the court issued a protective order to prevent public disclosure of the location of the vessel. The order required that all documents revealing the precise location of The Griffin be filed under seal and maintained in confidence by the parties. GLEG filed a motion to alter or amend the protective order and sought a temporary restraining order (TRO) that would prohibit Michigan from taking actual possession of the shipwreck or related artifacts. The court denied both GLEG's motion to amend and its request for a TRO.

Following the denial of GLEG's motion to amend the July 13, 2005 protective order, the district court allowed GLEG to file a second amended complaint. The second amended complaint changed the description of the shipwreck to the following:

Defendant [is a] wrecked and abandoned (for salvage-right purposes) sailing vessel, here tackle, apparel, appurtenances, cargo, etc. (hereinafter "the shipwreck" or "shipwreck site" "believed to be the Griffin, lost in Lake Michigan and located within three circular areas, each having a radius of one half a statute mile, as follows: First area-circle whose center point is 45-32-23 N 86-44-12 W; Second area-circle whose center point is 45-34-48 N 86-43-05 W; Third area-circle whose center point is 45-32-24 N 86-40-00 W.") lost in Lake Michigan, located within a circle having a radius of 3.5 statute miles whose center point is at coordinates 45° 32.8' North latitude and 86° 41.5' West longitude and believed to be The Griffin. . . . To the best of [GLEG's] current information and belief the Defendant shipwreck had, at the time of its sinking, the following characteristics: (a) power system; [sic] sail(s) and oars; (b) hull construction; [sic] wooden; (c) hull dimensions; [sic] (1) length-approximately 40'-60'; (2) breadth-approximately 10'-22'; (d) method of construction; [sic] hand; (e) approximate crew size; [sic] five; (f) approximate tonnage: 45 tons (or tuns); (g)time of construction: believed to be the 17th century; (h) date of sinking: approximately September 1679; (i) name of vessel: The Griffin. . . . The Defendant res is unique and there are no other shipwrecks known or believed to be within the geographic area identified above, or at or near the vicinity thereof, having the foregoing characteristics.

The district court allowed time for the parties to work out the "terms and conditions of a cooperative investigation concerning whether the target is the Griffin." Negotiations between the parties broke down, however, causing Michigan to file a motion to dismiss the second amended complaint on the same grounds as its first motion to dismiss: (1) GLEG's failure to state the precise location of the vessel in accordance with the Supplemental Rules, and (2) lack of federal subject-matter jurisdiction over the shipwreck.

On July 20, 2006, the court issued an order directing GLEG to show cause why it had failed to provide the precise location of the vessel to Michigan. The order directed the parties to file briefs addressing whether the complaint should be dismissed. On August 21, 2006, after reviewing the briefs filed in response to the July 20, 2006 order, the district court once again ordered GLEG to advise Michigan of the precise location of the vessel within ten days. The order informed GLEG that failure to provide Michigan with The Griffin's precise location would result in the dismissal of the complaint without prejudice.

GLEG failed to disclose the precise location of the vessel, and instead filed new motions requesting (1) an arrest warrant for the shipwreck to protect federal subject-matter jurisdiction, (2) a TRO against Michigan, and (3) an extension of time to disclose the vessel's precise location. The court denied GLEG's motions. It then dismissed GLEG's complaint without prejudice pursuant to the local rules of the Western District of Michigan, which allow the court to dismiss a complaint for failure to comply with a court order. See W.D. Mich. Local Civ. R. 41.1.

GLEG timely appealed. We must now determine whether the district court erred in (1) interpreting the Supplemental Rules to require GLEG to disclose the precise location of the shipwreck at the pleading stage, and (2) refusing to take additional steps to protect federal jurisdiction, such as arresting the vessel or issuing a TRO/preliminary injunction against Michigan, before dismissing GLEG's complaint.

II. ANALYSIS

A. Standard of review

This court reviews a district court's legal conclusions de novo and its findings of fact under the clearly erroneous standard. D.A.B.E., Inc. v. City of Toledo, 393 F.3d 692, 695 (6th Cir.2005). We review the dismissal...