Rainbow Reef boats damaged by whacko boater

[Ted Judah]

If anyone sees more about this and the outcome, please post here.

 

[edwants2dive]

That's one reason I don't do mini season in the keys.
Rainbow reef should put a lien on that yacht to cover the damages and when they don't pay up foreclose on it and boom they have a live aboard.

 

[deeper thoughts]

If anyone sees more about this and the outcome, please post here.

I will keep my eye out

 

[CuzzA]

That's one reason I don't do mini season in the keys.
Rainbow reef should put a lien on that yacht to cover the damages and when they don't pay up foreclose on it and boom they have a live aboard.

You can't just put a lein on someone's vessel. You could file a civil lawsuit for damages or make a claim against their insurance, if the vessel is insured. A savvy maritime attorney would claim limit of liability to the offending vessel's value. That vessel may not even cover the attorney's fees.

 

[Vicko]

You can't just put a lein on someone's vessel. You could file a civil lawsuit for damages or make a claim against their insurance, if the vessel is insured. A savvy maritime attorney would claim limit of liability to the offending vessel's value. That vessel may not even cover the attorney's fees.

Doesn't limiting the liability only work on commercial vessels and the passengers/crew on them? If you damage someone else's property or hurt people outside of the vessel you can't limit the liability.

 

[CuzzA]

Doesn't limiting the liability only work on commercial vessels and the passengers/crew on them? If you damage someone else's property or hurt people outside of the vessel you can't limit the liability.

Maritime Law: Limitation On Liability Act | Gilman & Bedigian

When a maritime worker is injured during the course of his or her employment, a personal injury claim is the best means to obtain fair and just compensation

www.gilmanbedigian.com

The Limitation Act applies to all seagoing and non-seagoing vessels used to navigate the ocean as well as inland lakes and rivers. These vessels now include canal boats, barges, and lighters in addition to the larger cargo ships and other types of ships used on the high seas.​

​

Recently, in 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court expanded the meaning of “vessel” to include — for purposes of the Limitation Act — pleasure craft, jets skis and houseboats.​

​

An equally savvy attorney for a plaintiff may find a way to expand liability beyond the value of the vessel. I'm certainly no expert at maritime law. This is just my understanding from similar discussions.

Keep in mind, maritime law can be confusing. Usually when assessing liability they will proportion it to both parties. For example, and perhaps @Wookie could add to the discussion, the defense attorney may be able to find somewhere in the Colregs where the Rainbow River vessels should have been displaying some sort of signal while docked in the navigation channel.

An example I am aware of is one most people are completely unaware of. If a vessel is anchored during the day (think of those hundreds of boats anchored on a sandbar), all of them should be displaying the day signal for being anchored. Which is a single black ball. I've never seen one, but if a vessel crashed into one of these anchored vessels the offending vessel's attorney could argue to put a portion of the liability onto the anchored vessel for not displaying the day signal.

My point is maritime law is not as logical as terrestrial law.

 

[edwants2dive]

You can't just put a lein on someone's vessel. You could file a civil lawsuit for damages or make a claim against their insurance, if the vessel is insured. A savvy maritime attorney would claim limit of liability to the offending vessel's value. That vessel may not even cover the attorney's fees.

I get that. I was just being a little facetious, but the law you linked to specifically states,
"In cases of a maritime personal injury or wrongful death claims, the Limitation Act allows vessel owners to limit or restrict liability owed to the injured parties to the value of the vessel." so I would think property damage would be outside that law, but I am not a lawyer either. You did make a good lawyer's argument about something displayed that shows the boat's inability to maneuver. Either way it is a fun discussion, I just hope they catch the idiot, there are already too many like him down here operating boats they have no business operating.

 

[tkaelin]

Any update on finding or identifying the operator?

 

[deeper thoughts]

Any update on finding or identifying the operator?

Deputies arrest suspected out-of-control yacht operator who damaged boats in Key Largo

Authorities arrested a Miami man they suspected of wreaking havoc on the water in Key Largo earlier this month, spinning a yacht in circles and causing damage to multiple boats in the process.

www.local10.com

 

[Jcp2]

This will turn out to be a person with more money than sense.