2008

On Wednesday, November 19 at noon, we will be hosting the Hawaii State Bar Association Admiralty Section's quarterly meeting at Damon Key.  All members of the Hawaii State Bar Association are welcome.

The topic for discussion will be vessel documentation, an area full of new developments.  The speaker will be Captain Fred Tucher, who recently retired…

Piracy off the coast of Somalia is getting a lot of press recently.  The recent piratical takeover of a ship laden with tanks and munitions is prompting concerns and debate between the world's shippers and the countries affected.  France, Ukraine, North Korea, and now Denmark all have had ships taken in the last several years.  It seems that NATO and perhaps the United States will need to have an increased maritime presence to provide security for the vital sea lane.

The United Nations has even passed resolutions which squarely infringe on the sovereignty of Somalia, such as it is.  Resolution 1816, adopted June 2008 (recently renewed by Resolution 1838, adopted October 2008 ) provided that the Security Council:

Decides that for a period of six months from the date of this resolution, States cooperating with the TFG in the fight against piracy and armed robbery at sea off the coast of Somalia, for which advance notification has been provided by the TFG to the Secretary-General, may:

(a) Enter the territorial waters of Somalia for the purpose of repressing acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea, in a manner consistent with such action permitted on the high seas with respect to piracy under relevant international law; and

(b) Use, within the territorial waters of Somalia, in a manner consistent with action permitted on the high seas with respect to piracy under relevant international law, all necessary means to repress acts of piracy and armed robbery…

The Shipping coalition, in their releases here, here suggest that governmental, and not private security, response is warranted.   The world's major maritime insurer, Lloyds of London, began issuing risk policies including private security teams here.

The French have shown a willingness to go farther than the territorial sea to apprehend pirates:

Earlier Somalia pirate posts here, here and here, here.

[Please excuse the quick post, but I am on active duty with the Coast Guard Reserve for the next two weeks.]

The Supreme Court just granted a cert. petition to address the issue of punitive damages in Jones Act cases, here. 

Per SCOTUSBLOG, the issue below is:

In the new case involving the rights of an injured seaman (Atlantic Sounding, et al., v. Townsend, 08-214), the Court stepped in to resolve a conflict in lower courts on whether punitive damages are available for a shipboard worker hurt on the job if the owner or operator denies “maintenance and cure” payments.  Maintenance, in this context, means a basic living allowance and wages that a seaman otherwise would have earned, and cure means benefits that cover medical needs.

The appeal contends that the two laws that provide remedies for seamen’s injuries or death on the job — the Jones Act and the Death on the High Seas Act — do not cover any damages other than the seaman’s own direct loss; in other words, they do not cover “non-pecuniary damages.”  The appeal asserts that the Supreme Court has made clear that benefits in the maritime industry should be uniform across the country, and should depend mainly on what Congress has authorized in legislation.

More to follow.

The opposition briefing is complete in the UFO Chuting case.

The State of Hawaii's Brief in Opposition is here.

The Solicitor General's office filed its Brief in Opposition is here. 

My colleagues, Robert Thomas and Christi-Anne Kudo Chock, and I filed an amicus brief on behalf of Hawaii's Ocean Tourism Coalition in support of the Petition for…