Dredge Is A Vessel
WILLARD STEWART, Petitioner v. DUTRA CONSTRUCTION COMPANY
No. 03-814
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
125 S. Ct. 1118; 160 L. Ed. 2d 932; 2005 U.S. LEXIS 1397; 73U.S.L.W. 4130; 2005 AMC 609; 18 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 115
November 1, 2004, Argued
February 22, 2005, Decided
PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Petitioner, a maritime engineer, sued respondent owner of a large dredge under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA), alleging that the owner was liable for the engineer's injuries from a collision between the dredge and scow on which the engineer was working. Upon the grant of a writ of certiorari, the engineer appealed the judgment of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit which held that the LHWCA did not apply.
OVERVIEW: The dredge was a floating platform used to remove silt from the ocean floor and dump the silt onto scows floating alongside, and the dredge navigated short distances by manipulating its anchors and cables. The dredge used its bucket to move the scow on which the engineer was working, which caused the scow to collide with the dredge causing the engineer's severe injuries. The lower court found that the dredge was not a vessel, and thus the owner was not the owner of a vessel for purposes of the LHWCA, since the dredge did not have the primary purpose of navigation and was not in transit when the collision occurred. The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held, however, that the definition of a vessel set out in 1 U.S.C.S. ยง 3 applied under the LHWCA, and thus the dredge was a vessel since it was a watercraft practically capable of maritime transportation. The definition did not require that the dredge be used primarily for navigation nor was the dredge required to be in motion at the time of the collision to qualify as a vessel, and the dredge was in fact used to transport equipment and workers over water.
OUTCOME: The judgment holding that the dredge was not a vessel under the LHWCA was reversed, and the case was remanded for further proceedings.
