Opinion ID: 702303
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Place of the Wrongful Act

Text: 234 Plaintiff concedes that the accident took place within two-hundred meters of the St. Lucian shoreline. This factor, therefore, favors application of St. Lucian law rather than United States law. However, Neely contends that this factor should be accorded little weight because of the fortuity of the sailing vessel being in the particular place where the accident occurred. Indeed, in Lauritzen, the Supreme Court stated that, [t]he test of location of the wrongful act or omission, however sufficient for torts ashore, is of limited application to shipboard torts, because of the varieties of legal authority over waters she may navigate. Lauritzen, 345 U.S. at 583, 73 S.Ct. at 929. 235 Normally, the place of accident might well be fortuitous. Here, however, the vessel was chartered by Holiday Village to be used specifically by diving parties in and around St. Lucia. St. Lucia has set its territorial waters at a breath of 12 nautical miles. 6B Benedict on Admiralty Doc. 10-3A, at 10-62, 10-62.2 (Frank L. Wiswall, Jr., ed., 6th ed. 1994). Rarely, if ever, during its demise charter did the Long John leave the territorial waters of St. Lucia. It is true that the vessel had the capability of traveling vast distances, and even worldwide. However, when analyzing whether the location of the accident in St. Lucian waters was fortuitous, it becomes clear that if the vessel never left the territorial waters, then an accident in St. Lucian waters was not simply by chance. In fact, anyone sailing aboard the Long John, whether as crew or otherwise, would reasonably conclude (as occurred in this case), that any accident would occur in the territorial waters of St. Lucia. This factor weighs strongly in favor of applying St. Lucian law to this dispute. 236 The majority agrees with this analysis, but concludes that this factor does not strongly suggest that application of American law would not be reasonable. Maj. op. at 192. Notwithstanding the fact that this accident occurred in, and could only have occurred in, St. Lucian waters, the majority seeks to minimize the impact of this important factor. It asserts that even though the accident occurred in St. Lucian waters, St. Lucia's regulatory interests are undefined, and this conclusion does not point toward application of St. Lucian law. Again, this reasoning contradicts an earlier portion of the majority opinion where it concluded the accident involving Neely and the Long John is the kind of incident that has a potentially disruptive impact on maritime commerce. Maj. op. at 179 quoting Jerome B. Grubart, Inc. v. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co., --- U.S. ----, ----, 115 S.Ct. 1043, 1051, 130 L.Ed.2d 1024 (1995). Clearly, in a situation where an accident occurs within two-hundred meters of the St. Lucian coastline, we need not be familiar with the complexities of St. Lucian law in order to conclude that St. Lucia has an interest in preventing or investigating any accident which may have a detrimental effect on maritime commerce in its territorial waters. Because the place of wrongful act was not fortuitous, and St. Lucia has a cognizable interest in accidents which occur off its shores, this factor weighs strongly against applying United States law to this controversy.