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United States Admiralty Law
Maritime law in the United States is a matter of federal law. Jurisdiction In the United States, the federal district courts have jurisdiction over all admiralty and maritime actions; see . When the U.S. Navy or Marine Corps is involved in an admiralty incident, the Secretary of the Navy has authority for administrative settlement and payment of claims involving the Department of the Navy. The Judge Advocate General processes admiralty claims for adjudication by the Secretary of the Navy, or the Secretary's designee, and acts as the principal liaison with Department of Justice for admiralty tort cases in litigation. The Navy Department may hold a Court of Inquiry or conduct other investigations into the incident, however this type of court conducts formal investigations and "is not a court as the term is commonly used today." [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maritime Law
Maritime law or admiralty law is a body of law that governs nautical issues and private maritime disputes. Admiralty law consists of both domestic law on maritime activities, and private international law governing the relationships between private parties operating or using ocean-going ships. While each legal jurisdiction usually has its own legislation governing maritime matters, the international nature of the topic and the need for uniformity has, since 1900, led to considerable international maritime law developments, including numerous multilateral treaties. Admiralty law, which mainly governs the relations of private parties, is distinguished from the law of the sea, a body of public international law regulating maritime relationships between nations, such as navigational rights, mineral rights, and jurisdiction over coastal waters. While admiralty law is adjudicated in national courts, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea has been adopted by 167 countrie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Limitation Of Liability Act
In United States maritime law, the Limitation of Liability Act of 1851, codified as since December 2022, states that the owner of a vessel may limit damage claims to the value of the vessel at the end of the voyage plus "pending freight", as long as the owner can prove it lacked knowledge of the problem beforehand. This Act was the subject of a 2001 United States Supreme Court case in '' Lewis v. Lewis & Clark Marine, Inc.'' History The Act was passed by Congress on March 3, 1851 to protect the maritime shipping industry; at the time, shipowners were subject to loss from events beyond their control such as storms and pirates, so the Act was designed to limit the shipowners' liability to the value of the vessel. Without it, American shipping was "at a competitive disadvantage" compared to other maritime countries where similar limitations applied. Section 3 of the 1851 Act states "the liability of the owner or owners of any ship or vessel ... shall in no case exceed the amount o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CITGO Asphalt Refining Co
Citgo Petroleum Corporation, or Citgo (stylized as CITGO), is a United States–based refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products. Headquartered in the Energy Corridor area of Houston, it is majority-owned by PDVSA, a state-owned company of the Venezuelan government (although due to U.S. sanctions in 2019, they no longer economically benefit from Citgo). History Cities Service period The company traces its heritage back to the early 1900s and oil entrepreneur Henry Latham Doherty. After quickly climbing the ladder of success in the manufactured gas and electric utility world, Doherty in 1910 created Cities Service Company to supply gas and electricity to small public utilities. He began by acquiring gas-producing properties in the mid-continent and southwest. The company then developed a pipeline system, tapping dozens of gas pools. To make this gas available to consumers, Doherty moved to acquire di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chicago Flood
The Chicago flood occurred on April 13, 1992, when repair work on a bridge spanning the Chicago River damaged the wall of an abandoned and disused utility tunnel beneath the river. The resulting breach flooded basements, facilities and the underground Chicago Pedway throughout the Chicago Loop with an estimated of water. The remediation lasted for weeks, and cost about $2 billion in 1992 dollars, equivalent to $ in . The legal battles lasted for several years, and disagreement over who was at fault persists to this day. Cause Rehabilitation work on the Kinzie Street Bridge crossing the Chicago River required new pilings. However, when the City of Chicago specified that the old pilings be extracted and replaced by the new ones, the Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company reported back that the old pilings were too close to the bridge tender's house, preventing proper removal without risking damaging or destroying the house. The City of Chicago then gave permission to install the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chicago River
The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of Chicago, including its center (the Chicago Loop). The river is one of the reasons for Chicago's geographic importance: the related Chicago Portage is a link between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi Valley, Mississippi River Basin, and ultimately the Gulf of Mexico. In 1887, the Illinois General Assembly decided to reverse the flow of the Chicago River through civil engineering by taking water from Lake Michigan and discharging it into the Mississippi River watershed, partly in response to concerns created by an extreme weather event in 1885 that threatened the city's water supply. In 1889, the state created the Chicago Sanitary District (now the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District) to replace the Illinois and Michigan Canal with the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, a much larger waterway, because the forme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Lakes Dredge And Dock Company
Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company is an American company providing construction services in dredging and land reclamation, currently the largest such provider in the United States. GLD&D operates primarily in the United States but conducts one-quarter of its business overseas. The company was based in Oak Brook, Illinois, but in October 2020 relocated its corporate headquarters to Houston, Texas. History The company was founded in 1890 as the partnership of William A. Lydon & Fred C. Drews and was named Lydon & Drews dredging company. Early projects included the shoreline structures for the Chicago's Columbian Exposition. The company soon had satellite operations throughout the Great Lakes. It was renamed the Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company (GLD&D) in 1905. Between 1900 and 1950, GLD&D undertook major projects such as the Sabin Lock, straightening of the Chicago River west of the Chicago Loop, the Michigan Avenue Bridge, foundation landfill and reclamation of the area ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jet Ski
A personal watercraft (PWC), also called Jet Ski or water scooter, is a primarily recreational watercraft that is designed to hold only a small number of occupants, who sit or stand on top of the craft, not within the craft as in a boat. Prominent brands of PWCs include Jet Skis and Sea-Doos. PWCs have two style categories. The first and the most popular is a compact runabout, typically holding no more than two or three people, who mainly sit on top of the watercraft as one does when riding an ATV or snowmobile. The second style is a "stand-up" type, typically built for only one occupant who operates the watercraft standing up as in riding a motorized scooter; it is used more for doing tricks, racing, and in competitions. Both styles have an inboard engine driving a pump-jet that has a screw-shaped impeller to create thrust for propulsion and steering. Most are designed for two or three people, though four-passenger models exist. Many of today's models are built for m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
The ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill was an environmental disaster off the coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico, on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect. It is considered the largest marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry and estimated to be 8 to 31 percent larger in volume than the previous largest, the Ixtoc I oil spill, also in the Gulf of Mexico. Caused in the aftermath of a blowout and explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform, the United States federal government estimated the total discharge at . After Efforts to stem the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, several failed efforts to contain the flow, the well was declared sealed on 19 September 2010. Reports in early 2012 indicated that the well site was still leaking. The ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill is regarded as one of the largest environmental disasters in world history. A massive response ensued to protect beaches, salt marsh, wetlands and Estuary, estuaries from the spreading oil util ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deepwater Horizon
''Deepwater Horizon'' was an ultra-deepwater, Dynamic positioning, dynamically positioned, Semi-submersible platform, semi-submersible offshore drilling Oil platform, rig owned by Transocean and operated by the BP company. On 20 April 2010, while drilling in the Gulf of Mexico at the Macondo Prospect, a Blowout (well drilling), blowout caused an explosion on the rig that killed 11 crewmen and ignited a fireball visible from away. The fire was inextinguishable and, two days later, on 22 April, the ''Horizon'' collapsed, leaving the well gushing at the seabed and becoming Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the largest marine oil spill in history. Built in 2001 in South Korea by Hyundai Heavy Industries, the rig was commissioned by R&B Falcon (a later asset of Transocean), registered in Majuro, and leased to BP from 2001 until September 2013. In September 2009, the rig drilled the deepest oil well in history at a vertical depth of and measured depth of in the Tiber Oil Field at Kea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Transocean
Transocean Ltd. is an American drilling company. It is the world's largest offshore drilling contractor based on revenue and is based in Steinhausen, Switzerland. The company has offices in 20 countries, including Canada, the United States, Norway, United Kingdom, India, Brazil, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia. In 2010, Transocean was found partially responsible (30% of total liability) for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill resulting from the explosion of one of its oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. The primary business of Transocean is contracts with other large companies in the oil and gas industry. In 2019, Royal Dutch Shell accounted for 26% of the company's revenues, while Equinor accounted for 21% of the company's revenues, and Chevron accounted for 17% of the company's revenues. History Transocean was formed as a result of the merger of Southern Natural Gas Company, later Sonat, with many smaller drilling companies. In 1953, the Birmingham, Alabama-based Souther ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lifeboat (shipboard)
A lifeboat or liferaft is a small, rigid or inflatable boat carried for emergency evacuation in the event of a disaster aboard a ship. Lifeboat drills are required by law on larger commercial ships. Rafts (raft, liferafts) are also used. In the military, a lifeboat may double as a whaleboat, dinghy, or Captain's gig, gig. The ship's tenders of cruise ships often double as lifeboats. Recreational sailors usually carry inflatable liferafts, though a few prefer small proactive lifeboats that are harder to sink and can be sailed to safety. Inflatable lifeboats may be equipped with auto-inflation (carbon dioxide or nitrogen) canisters or mechanical pumps. A quick release and pressure release mechanism is fitted on ships so that the canister or pump automatically inflates the lifeboat, and the lifeboat breaks free of the sinking vessel. Commercial aircraft are also required to carry auto-inflating liferafts in case of an emergency water landing; offshore oil platforms also have life ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinking Of The RMS Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' sank on 15 April 1912 in the North Atlantic Ocean. The largest ocean liner in service at the time, ''Titanic'' was four days into her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, USA with an estimated 2,224 people on board when she struck an iceberg at 23:40 ( ship's time) on 14 April. She sank two hours and forty minutes later at 02:20 ship's time (05:18 GMT) on 15 April, resulting in the deaths of more than 1,500 people, making it one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history. ''Titanic'' received six warnings of sea ice on 14 April, but was travelling at a speed of roughly when her lookouts sighted the iceberg. Unable to turn quickly enough, the ship suffered a glancing blow that buckled the steel plates covering her starboard side and opened six of her sixteen compartments to the sea. ''Titanic'' had been designed to stay afloat with up to four of her forward compartments flooded, and the crew used distress flares and ra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
