Admiralty and Maritime

Those who own boats or are involved in commercial or private boating may want to invest in maritime insurance. At its most basic level, marine insurance covers a person’s liability for their boating activities. It will also cover any liability a boat owner has toward...

Thirty years ago, at 12:04 AM on Good Friday, March 24, 1989, the oil tanker EXXON VALDEZ ran aground on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound in Alaska. Underwater rocks tore huge holes in eight of the single-hull tanks holding crude oil. As a result, the tanker spilled 10.8 million gallons of oil into the Sound and “oiled” 1300 miles…

For years, the Port of Baltimore has been at a major competitive disadvantage due to the inability to stack shipping containers two high on trains heading out of the City (a practice known as double-stacking). Despite dredging a 50-foot channel and having a large public-private investment in the Seagirt Marine Terminal to provide a 50-foot berth and super-sized Panamax container…

“Dual Agency.” You may have heard of it before, but what should you know about it? The term “dual agency” might lead you to think about double commissions, something perhaps to be happy about. But if you aren’t aware of the pitfalls of dual agency, it might cost you all your commissions, or more. When a buyer or seller uses…

Charles is teaching Admiralty and Maritime law for the third straight year at the University of Baltimore School of Law. His course covers substantive Admiralty and Maritime law topics such as jurisdiction, in rem concepts, cargo damage claims, salvage, general average, collision, and personal injury. Charles also covers procedural issues such as maritime arrest and attachment, concurrent jurisdiction under the…

Since 2009, David Williams has served as American Bar Association (ABA) Advisor to the Drafting Committee of the Uniform Law Commission (ULC) with respect to a Uniform Certificate of Title Act for Vessels. At its Annual Meeting in July, 2011, the ULC approved the new Certificate of Title Act, which now will be presented for enactment in states around the…

The 1999 decision in Lubrano v. Waterman Steamship Co., 1999 AMC 1709 (2d Cir.), is another step by the federal courts to limit the application of one of the most famous and effective judge-created remedies in U.S. admiralty and maritime law — the shifting of loss under the Ryan implied warranty of workmanlike performance. Indemnity is an all or nothing…