APPELLATE COURT REMANDED CASE TO TRIAL COURT TO DETERMINE IF PORTION OF RIVER WHERE THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED WAS NAVIGABLE EVEN THOUGH PARTIES STIPULATED THAT THE BOAT CRUISED ON A NAVIGABLE WATERWAY
WILSON VALAREZO, Plaintiff, -against- ECUADORIAN LINE, INC.,INDIAN OCEAN SHIPPING, LTD. and TRIREME VESSEL MANAGEMENT, N.V., Defendants.
00 Civ. 6387 (SAS)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8942
June 26, 2001, Decided
June 29, 2001, Filed
Plaintiff Wilson Valarezo, an Ecuadorian national and resident, brings this personal injury action against defendants Ecuadorian Line, Inc., Indian Ocean Shipping, Ltd. and Trireme Vessel Management, N.V. ("Trireme"). Defendants move to dismiss the lawsuit on grounds of forum non conveniens, arguing that Ecuador is a more appropriate forum. Each defendant agrees to submit to jurisdiction in Ecuador should this Court order a dismissal. For the reasons stated below, the motion to dismiss is granted based on forum non conveniens.
On December 15, 1997, the incident giving rise to Valarezo's claim took place aboard the M/V INDIAN OCEAN, in international waters while the vessel was en route to Panama from Florida. See id. P 3. Valarezo claims that he suffered serious personal injuries from a slip and fall caused by the defendants' negligence in permitting an area of the vessel to "become and remain in a greasy, oily and otherwise slippery and dangerous condition." Complaint P 27.
