Jessie Elizabeth Shifalo

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In a much-anticipated decision, the United States Supreme Court held that choice-of-law provisions in marine insurance contracts are presumptively enforceable under federal maritime law with a few narrow exceptions. In Great Lakes Insurance SE v. Raiders Retreat Realty Co., LLC, 601 U.S. ___ (2024), the country’s highest court overturned a Third Circuit Court of Appeals decision that had created a circuit split regarding the applicability of choice-of-law provisions in marine insurance contracts and when the law of the forum state can override the choice made by the parties to the contract.
Continue Reading Choice-of-Law Provisions in Marine Insurance Contracts Upheld by the Supreme Court

On December 29, 2023, the USCG issued Maritime Safety Information Bulletin (MSIB) 13-2023, Change 1, an updated version of MSIB 13-23, adding a Frequently Asked Questions section to the document addressing compliance with the Safer Seas Act which was passed in December of 2022.
Continue Reading USCG Updates Guidance on Safer Seas Act Compliance, Continuing to Show Strict Interpretation and Enforcement of Its Requirements

On November 13, 2023, the U.S. Coast Guard published Policy Letter 23-05 which provides the first actual guidance for vessel owners and operators on the expectations for the surveillance equipment that they are required to install and maintain under the Safer Seas Act, which became law in December 2022 as part of the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2023.
Continue Reading USCG Issues First Guidance on Safer Seas Act Camera Requirements

Most American maritime and environmental attorneys and vessel owners are familiar with OPA 90 and oil spill liability in the United States. But what happens when a vessel spills oil in the territorial waters of another country? …
Continue Reading Oil Spill Liability: OPA 90 v. the IMO’S CLC

On May 17, 2023, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts dismissed plaintiffs’ challenges to the Vineyard Wind Project—the United States’s first major offshore wind project. The plaintiffs, nearby residents, challenged the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (“BOEM”) final Environmental Impact Statement and the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (“NMFS”) Biological Opinion related…

On August 20, 2018, Noble House’s yacht lost its port-side rudder while entering a channel in the Bahamas. The following day, Noble House advised Underwriters at Lloyd’s, its insurer, of the casualty, whose policy allegedly covered the claim. Noble House purchased the policy from Underwriters by way of a Texas-based insurance broker in February 2018.

In its February 23, 2023 ruling in Mexican Gulf Fishing Co. v. United States Dep’t of Commerce, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a National Fisheries Management Services (“NFMS”) rule requiring owners and operators of charter boats in the Gulf of Mexico to equip their boats with approved GPS tracking devices that…

The Safer Seas Act was passed and enacted into law in December 2022 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. The Act includes many changes for the maritime industry, specifically for owners and operators of vessels. The below checklist, current as of March 3, 2023, summarizes the required operational and onboard changes. It is…

In a recent decision following a six-day bench trial, the Southern District of Texas ruled that shipping giant Maersk was not liable for the death of City of Kemah Police Chief Christopher Reed, who was knocked overboard when his boat caught the wake of the Maersk Idaho in the Houston Ship Channel.[1] Mr. Reed’s…