Cruise Ship Law

ENRIQUE WILLIAMS, Plaintiff, vs. CRUISE SHIPS CATERING AND SERVICE INTERNATIONAL, N.V.; PRESTIGE CRUISES N.V.; and COSTA CROCKER, SPA,Defendants

Case No. 03-60158-CIV-GOLD/SIMONTON
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24048; 17 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. D 211
December 9, 2003, Decided
December 9, 2003, Filed

PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Defendant cruiseline owners filed a motion to dismiss on forum non conveniens grounds related to plaintiff seaman's allegations under the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C.S. app. § 688, and claims for unseaworthiness, failure to cure, and failure to treat.

OVERVIEW: Plaintiff seaman sued defendant cruise line owners for injuries he suffered while he worked aboard an Italian-flagged vessel. Defendants filed a motion to dismiss on forum non conveniens grounds contending, inter alia, that the place of the wrongful act was not the United States but the high seas, the law of the ship's flag was Italian; and plaintiff was domiciled in Costa Rica. However, the district court denied defendants' motion to dismiss on finding, inter alia, that defendants conducted substantial business in United States ports generating revenues for the ship's owner, plaintiff was treated for his medical condition in the United States while serving aboard defendants' vessel and in their employment, and important decisions relating to the plaintiff's care and maintenance were made by defendants' subsidiary in the United States. The district court held that defendant ship owner had a substantial base of operations in the United States, the law of the United States should be applied, and thus the case should not be dismissed for forum non conveniens.

OUTCOME: Defendants' motion to dismiss on forum non conveniens grounds was denied.