Wednesday, February 10, 2021
In
Rivera v. Kirby Offshore Marine, L.L.C., the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit revisited the
Sieracki seaman doctrine with respect to a pilot injured onboard a third-party vessel, allowing the pilot to recover from the third-party vessel owner under a theory of unseaworthiness. Captain Jay Rivera served as a Branch Pilot for the Port Aransas Bar and Corpus Christi Bay who piloted vessels transiting those areas. 983 F.3d 811 (5th Cir. 2020). Rivera was assigned to bring a vessel owned by Kirby Offshore Marine, L.L.C., from Port Aransas to the Corpus Christi harbor. When boarding the vessel, Rivera stepped on an unmarked hatch cover, causing injury to his ankle and fracturing the fifth metatarsal on his left foot. Thereafter, Rivera was diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome and deemed unfit to continue to perform his job as a pilot. Rivera’s commission was revoked and he lost his membership with the pilot’s associati