Page 26: of Marine News Magazine (April 2017)

25 27

LEGAL

Understanding Legal Liability in a Subchapter M Environment

There is more to SubM than just attention to safety. Protect yourself accordingly.

By Mark Hebert, Partner at Jones Walker LLP

In today’s environment, safety man- States Supreme Court’s 1873 ruling in The Pennsylvania. agement systems for brown water marine • Third, the violation of a regulation which has any causal operators are standard industry practice, relationship to the injury can result in the liability of the em- whether they come in the form of the ployer and any contributory negligence on the part of the in-

American Waterways Operators (AWO) jured employee will not be considered in the determination of

Responsible Carrier Program (RCP) or apportionment of fault. the Tanker Safety Management Assess- • Fourth, a vessel owner will only be able to limit his li-

Hebert ment (TSMA) framework developed by ability to the value of the vessel and her pending freight under the Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) the Limitation of Shipowners Liability Act (46 U.S.C. App. for liquid carriers. However, with the full-