In Gold v. Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc., No. 14-15-00123-CV, (Tex. App. Dec. 15, 2015) the Texas Court of Appeals has held that a drill ship that had been in dry dock for conversion for 20 months might still be regarded as being ‘in navigation’ and so within the Jones Act. The case arose out of an injury to a seaman on board the vessel while in drydock in Singapore. The Court of Appeals reversed the grant of summary judgment sought by the shipowners.
Vessel in drydock might still be ‘in navigation’ under Jones Act.
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Professor Simon Baughen
Professor Simon Baughen was appointed as Professor of Shipping Law in September 2013 (previously Reader at the University of Bristol Law School). Simon Baughen studied law at Oxford and practised in maritime law for several years before joining academia. His research interests lie mainly in the field of shipping law, but also include the law of trusts and the environmental law implications of the activities of multinational corporations in the developing world. Simon's book on Shipping Law, has run to seven editions (soon to be eight) and is already well-known to academics and students alike as by far the most learned and approachable work on the subject. Furthermore, he is now the author of the very well-established practitioner's work Summerskill on Laytime. He has an extensive list of publications to his name, including International Trade and the Protection of the Environment, and Human Rights and Corporate Wrongs - Closing the Governance Gap. He has also written and taught extensively on commercial law, trusts and environmental law. Simon is a member of the Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law, a University Research Centre within the School of Law, and he currently teaches at Swansea on the LLM in:Carriage of Goods by Sea, Land and Air; Charterparties Law and Practice; International Corporate Governance. View all posts by Professor Simon Baughen