Opinion ID: 561821
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The types of vehicles and instrumentalities involved.

Text: 24 The vehicle involved, the USS Independence, is a navigable vehicle whose function is transportation across navigable waters, a traditional role of water craft. Like the plaintiffs in Harville, performing work aboard a ship does not in itself subject personal injury and products liability claims to admiralty jurisdiction, particularly if the instrumentalities involved are not used specifically for maritime purposes. The instrumentality in the instant case, the nonskid floor covering, has several land-based uses including covering locker room floors, steps, cafeterias, lobbies, and other slippery surfaces. Consequently, Cochran's underlying claims would be no different if he had been working with the nonskid floor covering in a building on land. Thus, the involvement of a navigable vessel is at most tangential and does not directly affect the character of Cochran's claims. Harville v. Johns-Manville, 731 F.2d at 785. 25