2007 WL 43903 (S.D. Tex. Jan 5, 2007)
In this case, the Plaintiff, Aled Roberts -- a U.S. resident but a citizen of the UK -- was injured while disembarking from the M/T CAPE AVILA. The ship was moored 2.5 miles from a Dominican Republic Port. The Defendants are Tesoro Refining and Marketing Company ("Tesoro"), Tesoro Far East Maritime Company ("Tesoro East"), One Marine, Inc. ("One Marine"), Columbia Ship Management Deutschland ("Columbia"), Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. ("Overseas"), M/T CAPE AVILA, and Avila Tanker Corporation ("Avila") who are various owners, contractors, and charterers.
Defendants moved to apply the law of the Dominican Republic to the suit. The court examined the factors as established by Lauritzen v. Larsen, 345 U.S. 571 (1953) and further elaborated in Hellenic Lines Ltd. v. Rhoditis, 398 U.S. 306(1970). The eight factors are:
(1) the allegiance or domicile of the plaintiff; (2) the place of the contract; (3) the allegiance of the defendant shipowner; (4) the law of the flag; (5) the accessibility of the foreign forum; (6) the place of the wrongful act; (7) the law of the forum; and (8) the defendant shipowner's base of operations. These factors, while potentially suggestive of a mechanical approach to determining choice of law, are not all of equal or even comparable significance.
Examining these factors, the court concluded that none weighed in favor of applying the law of the Dominican Republic. Since some weighed in favor of U.S. law, American law is chosen.
It is interesting to note that defendants may have done better with their motion had they sought to apply the law of Cyprus. As the ship was Cypriot flagged, the court suggested that this may have been a more close call. However, it is unclear from the opinion what substantive provision of Dominican Republic law defendants sought to gain.
0 comments:
Post a Comment