Court rules riverboat casino is a `vessel’ for legal claim
Atlanta, USA - Fri, Jul. 25, 2008
Seen at: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/251/story/382481.html
The federal appeals court in Atlanta ruled on Friday that a Louisiana riverboat casino that broke free from its moorings during Hurricane Katrina is a “vessel” under maritime law. The ruling reversed a judge’s ruling in a lawsuit that sought $1.5 million in damages to the marina where it was docked. Before the Hurricane Katrina, the vessel was docked at the South Shore Harbor marina on Lake Pontchartrain in eastern New Orleans under a long-term lease.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel said Friday that a federal judge in Alabama was correct to deny the now-defunct Orleans Levee District back rent payments from the Belle of Orleans casino because their lease agreement was not technically a maritime contract.
The district board sued in federal court in Mobile, Ala., where the Belle of Orleans was undergoing repairs in 2006, because federal courts have jurisdiction in maritime disputes.
The Belle of Orleans was docked in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and sustained heavy damage when the storm hit on Aug. 29, 2005. After it was repaired in Mobile, it was moved by its new owners to St. Mary Parish and renamed the Amelia Belle in January 2007 .
The Orleans Levee District tried to seize the Belle while it was being repaired in Mobile, claiming $1.3 million over nonpayment of rent since Katrina hit. The district also filed an amended complaint asking for $20.6 million in unpaid rent, $1.6 million in unpaid fees and $1.5 million in damages sustained when the riverboat casino collided with marina structures.
The court in Alabama dismissed the claims, saying that maritime laws did not apply because the casino was not a vessel.
The three-judge 11th Circuit panel said that although the Belle had been moored indefinitely and was tied by cables to the wharf and linked by utility lines it still was a functional boat, was towed to Mobile and capable of being converted to operate on its own.
Although the former Belle of Orleans was found to be a vessel as far as the claim on property damage was concerned, the judges also found aspects of the lease agreement that nullified maritime claims - that may prove that the entire suit may be moot.
