Theriot v. U.S.

This case arose from an allision of a recreational fishing vessel and an underwater sill or weir constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers. The passengers and their spouses brought negligence claims for personal injuries under the Suits in Admiralty Act against the United States, the vessel’s operator, and the vessel operator’s liability insurer. The vessel was operating in unfamiliar waters. After searching unsuccessfully for fish, the vessel operator attempted to exit the cut through a different area than the vessel entered the cut through. The vessel was accelerating to approximately 15 miles per hour when it hit the sill and threw several of the passengers into the water. The location of the sill was charted on the authorized navigational chart for the area published by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, but no warning sign or other physical marker was placed at the site.

The operator did not consult the authorized navigational chart but did consult two other charts of the area, neither of which contained the location of the sill. In addition, the U.S. Coast Guard had issued a Notice to Mariners warning of the danger posed by the sill, but the vessel operator had not requested the notice. The trial court determined that the vessel was being operated at an unsafe speed under the circumstances, namely because (1) the operator was unfamiliar with the area, (2) the operator made the decision to exit the area in a different place than where the vessel safely entered the area, and (3) the vessel’s depth finder was located at the rear of the vessel, meaning that the front of the vessel would have already passed over an area before the depth was determined. The trial court’s finding regarding the vessel’s speed, coupled with the operator’s failure to consult the appropriate navigational charts and warnings, was the basis for the court’s finding that the operator negligently operated the fishing vessel. The Court of Appeals upheld this finding.