Last week, the container ship MV Dali collided with a pylon of the Francis Scott Key Bridge over the Patapsco River and the Port of Baltimore, collapsing the span in minutes. Six people were killed, and the port closed indefinitely.The consequences of this maritime disaster are only beginning, as is the legal saga to determine who is liable for the aftermath.
Shipping is the lifeblood of the globalized economy, one that gives rise to a number of legal conundrums. The Dali was built by South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries and was later sold to a Singaporean company. When the ship struck the bridge, it was under charter from Danish shipping giant Maersk, and insurance companies have a stake too. This complex web indicates a long and complicated legal fight lies ahead for those seeking compensation.
Maritime or admiralty law is an important legal field, at the intersection of international trade and tourism. The below analysis comprises United States District Court litigation with marine-related Nature of Suit codes, the case type system used by the federal courts, filed since 2019. The data provides a window into the lawsuits affecting important maritime industries.
Who Gets Sued?
Docket Alarm reports nearly 10,000 federal District Court cases concerning maritime law since 2019. The most frequently appearing defendant, by far, is Carnival, an international cruise line. Royal Caribbean Cruises and Norweigan Cruise Lines form the rest of the top 3.
Just one shipping company is in the top 10 of most-sued maritime parties – MSC. Another non-cruise line in the top 10 is British Petroleum. Maersk, another famed shipping giant, , has faced 79 marine lawsuits in the last 5 years.
Case Types
Cruise line companies like Carnival tend to face lawsuits with the 340 – Maritime case type, whereas shipping companies like MSC face cases with the 120 – Contract – Maritime type.
A typical case against Carnival concerns a personal injury allegedly incurred during a cruise. Meanwhile, a lawsuit against MSC concerns shipping issues – in this case, an alleged failure in shipping container temperature control resulted in the cargo (fruit) being lost. These common lawsuits are not, of course, the rule – for example, in one case MSC sued rail provider BNSF, seeking to recover damages for items stolen after cargo had been unloaded from an MSC vessel onto a BNSF train.
Carnival
Carnival has faced nearly 900 cases in federal court since 2019. This period of time, of course, includes the massive disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic. The cruise line received a high number of cases throughout 2020, but cases dropped dramatically for 2021. Because many of Carnival’s cases involve personal injuries incurred during cruises, this may correlate with severely impaired cruise demand during the high-lockdown period of the pandemic. Cases have fully rebounded to pre-pandemic levels by 2023.
A significant proportion of Carnival’s litigation is handled in-house. However, other law firms involved in their law suits include Mase Mebane Seitz and Foreman Friedman.
MSC
Commercial shipping giant MSC has faced 156 federal lawsuits in recent years. Unlike Carnival, there does not appear to be a significant pattern shift accompanying the COVID-19 pandemic. The with law firms like Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani and Lyons & Flood.
Geography
Far and away the busiest jurisdiction for maritime cases in United States federal courts is the Southern District of Florida, home to Miami and one of the busiest cruise ports in the world. The second-busiest district is the Eastern District of Louisiana, home to New Orleans. Whereas Carnival is the top party in the Florida court, BP is the top party in the Louisiana court.
The remaining busiest courts for maritime litigation include other places with deep roots to both commercial shipping and leisure travel – the Southern District of New York, the Central District of California, the Southern District of Texas, the Middle District of Florida, and the Western District of Washington.