Law Firm ILN-telligence Podcast | Episode 81: Geraldine Spiteri and John Navarro, Acumum Legal & Advisory | Malta
Bill on Bankruptcy: Supreme Court Cases Will Have Wide Impact
The Jones Act is the foundational law of the American maritime industry, and compliance with it is essential whether you are a vessel operator in the US domestic trades or a foreign operator serving the US market. The Jones...more
Over the past year, a number of new interpretations related to the application of the coastwise laws to the developing offshore wind industry in the United States have clarified how construction and operation of offshore wind...more
A couple of recent cases from the Eastern District of Louisiana provide useful guidance on the limits of maintenance and cure obligations. Given that failure to pay maintenance and cure can give rise to a claim for...more
1. What is the first thing you must do after a boating accident? If you have had a boating accident, you must first take care of the health and safety of the people involved. Ensure everyone is safely on the boat if it is...more
At first glance, the waters can be murky when wading through a determination of a maritime employee’s status as a Jones Act seaman or a longshoreman. The determination of whether an individual is a Jones Act seaman or...more
When Congress enacted H.R.7776, the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23 NDAA), it included several provisions that addressed the requirements for so-called discretionary waivers of...more
Cabotage laws are laws that restrict foreign transportation services within a particular country in favor of domestic services. It is protectionism in its most primary sense and has been part of United States law since the...more
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a ruling stating that the Jones Act does not apply to several specific offshore wind activities, which permits those activities to be performed by foreign vessels....more
Advanced Wage Agreements offer to pay “advanced wages" to an injured seaman, in addition to the legal obligations to pay maintenance and cure, in exchange for the seaman agreeing to arbitrate his personal injury claim if and...more
As renewable energy continues to comprise a larger share of the US power mix, offshore wind remains the next frontier of the US green energy boom. Today, the US hosts only one operational commercial offshore wind farm, the...more
Since the enactment of the Jones Act, courts have wrestled to define "seaman" and who is entitled to remedies under the Jones Act. The Jones Act grants a "seaman" a negligence cause of action against his employer and only a...more
On May 11, 2021, the Fifth Circuit, sitting en banc, walked some of its precedent off the plank when it reexamined who qualifies as a “seaman” under the Jones Act. Apart from general maritime law, the Jones Act provides...more
As the offshore wind industry is growing in the United States, there is an influx of vessels that are considering operating on the U.S. outer continental shelf (“OCS”), both foreign- and U.S.-flag Jones Act-qualified vessels....more
Stakeholders in offshore wind construction projects, including vessel owners and operators, project developers, and equipment manufacturers, should ensure that their plans for offshore wind development take into consideration...more
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) earlier this year for the first time expressly found that the Jones Act applies to transportation of merchandise from a U.S. port to a location on the U.S. outer continental shelf...more
The Biden administration’s approach to policy setting in the offshore wind context can already be seen in recent legislation and executive orders related to tax law, maritime law, and environmental law. We address the...more
In its first offshore wind ruling following amendments to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) under the National Defense Authorization for Fiscal Year 2021 (NDAA), which amended OCSLA to clarify its application to...more
On January 25, 2021, President Biden signed the Ensuring the Future Is Made in All of America by All of America’s Workers (Made in America) Executive Order, which not only directs that federal government purchases and...more
What to Look for in Ocean Shipping and Offshore Industries in 2021 - Once he assumes office on Jan. 20, 2021, President-Elect Joe Biden will quickly need to develop a comprehensive strategy regarding U.S. ocean trade,...more
The House of Representatives passed legislation, H.R. 4447, the Expanding Access to Sustainable Energy Act of 2019, on September 24, 2020, that included a provision from Representatives Garamendi and Lowenthal (“Amendment...more
Late last week, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., and Ranking Member Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, issued a joint statement announcing that both chambers of Congress have reached agreement on the...more
While offshore wind has been on the radar for many years in the United States, there has been a palpable surge in the momentum behind the industry over the past several months....more
Vessels are the backbone of any offshore construction project, and the Jones Act, which celebrated its centennial this month, regulates their operations in U.S. waters on the Outer Continental Shelf. Originally promulgated as...more
The Jones Act is the foundational law of the American maritime industry, and compliance with it is essential whether you are a vessel operator in the U.S. domestic trades or a foreign operator serving the U.S. market. The...more
Cabotage laws prohibit foreign-owned or crewed vessels from transporting merchandise between two points in the host country. They date to a time when a nation’s merchant marine and navy were a unified military asset, and they...more