Cruise Ship Law

WILLIAM T. WRIGHT -v- MAERSK LINE,LTD.

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT
84 Fed. Appx. 123; 2003 U.S. App. LEXIS 26524
December 31, 2003, Decided

PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Defendant ship operator appealed from the judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York following a jury trial awarding plaintiff seaman damages under 46 U.S.C.S. § 688 of the Jones Act of 1920, and from the court's denial of the operator's post-trial motion for judgment as a matter of law under Fed. R. Civ. P. 50.

OVERVIEW: The seaman became ill on the operator's vessel. The options were to leave the seaman at St. Helena, which had no airport and only monthly mail boat service, or at Ascension Island, which would require an additional 41 hours to reach, but had a hospital and an airport, allowing for easier return to the United States. The captain chose St. Helena, where doctors advised that the seaman probably had passed a gallstone. When the seaman returned to the United States, gallstones and sludge were found in his gallbladder. His treating physician opined that the delay in returning to the United States caused significant damage to his liver. The operator argued that it fulfilled its duty to the seaman by pulling into the nearest port known to have adequate medical facilities. However, the court of appeals found that the "nearest port" consideration was not the sole and determinative factor, and that other factors should also have been considered in ascertaining whether the captain acted reasonably in responding to the seaman's illness, including his ability to return home. The evidence sufficiently supported the jury's finding that the operator negligently responded to the seaman's illness.

OUTCOME: The court of appeals affirmed the judgment of the district court.