Cain v. Transocean Offshr US ( 2008 )


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  •                        REVISED MARCH 13, 2008
    IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
    United States Court of Appeals
    Fifth Circuit
    FILED
    No. 05-30963                         February 21, 2008
    Charles R. Fulbruge III
    Clerk
    ROCKY H CAIN
    Plaintiff - Appellee
    v.
    TRANSOCEAN OFFSHORE USA, INC; SEDCO FOREX CORP
    Defendants - Third Party Plaintiffs
    - Appellants
    v.
    FONTANA CENTER LLC
    Third Party Defendant - Appellee
    Appeal from the United States District Court
    for the Western District of Louisiana
    Before KING, GARZA, and OWEN, Circuit Judges.
    KING, Circuit Judge:
    This case requires us to consider the continued viability of our
    longstanding precedent holding that a watercraft under construction is not a
    “vessel in navigation” for purposes of the Jones Act. We hold that the Supreme
    Court’s decision in Stewart v. Dutra Construction Co., 
    543 U.S. 481
     (2005), has
    not effectively overruled that precedent because the decision did not concern or
    No. 05-30963
    address the point at which a vessel-to-be actually becomes a vessel.          We
    therefore REVERSE the district court’s denial of summary judgment and
    REMAND for further proceedings.
    I. Background
    In 1996, Plaintiff-Appellee Rocky Cain began working as a driller on a
    semi-submersible drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico for Sonat Offshore USA, Inc.
    Sonat later became part of Defendant-Appellant Transocean Offshore USA, Inc.
    On March 1, 2000, Transocean assigned Cain as a toolpusher to the “Cajun
    Construction Site” in Singapore. Cain worked in Singapore for approximately
    six months at the PPL Shipyard, where the M/V CAJUN EXPRESS was under
    construction. The CAJUN EXPRESS is a fifth-generation semi-submersible
    mobile offshore drilling rig designed to drill for oil and gas. Cain was expected
    to continue working on the CAJUN EXPRESS, or a sister rig, after construction
    was complete. Cain supervised a drill crew of seven men and was responsible
    for overseeing safety issues and commissioning the drilling equipment.
    During the first half of 2000, the CAJUN EXPRESS underwent sea trials
    to ensure that the power generation and navigation systems worked and that the
    structure was watertight for transit. With tugboat assistance, the CAJUN
    EXPRESS was then towed with men and equipment aboard to Grand Isle,
    Louisiana. During the journey, workers continued to build the rig, and Cain
    continued to test equipment. Upon arriving in the Gulf of Mexico, the CAJUN
    EXPRESS was moored in a “floating shipyard” for completion of construction.
    Although the rig was capable of self-propulsion, it was not fully capable of
    operating as a semi-submersible drilling rig. The necessary construction still
    included installation of vital pipe-handling equipment and “blisters,” which are
    large steel boxes welded to the rig to increase its buoyancy. Daniel Haslam, a
    Transocean engineer, testified that when it arrived in the Gulf of Mexico the
    CAJUN EXPRESS could lay pipe only under limited weather conditions.
    2
    No. 05-30963
    However, as a fifth generation semi-submersible unit, the most state of the art
    in the industry, the CAJUN EXPRESS was not designed to operate only under
    limited conditions. Haslam testified that no drilling contractor would have
    found the CAJUN EXPRESS fit for the purpose of drilling a deepwater well in
    the Gulf of Mexico.
    On September 10, 2000, Cain was working on board the CAJUN
    EXPRESS. At that time, the blisters still had not been installed and the drilling
    systems had not been commissioned. Cain entered a warehouse located on board
    the rig to retrieve a part for a member of the drill crew, whereupon he struck his
    head on a low-hanging light fixture and was injured. A neurosurgeon later
    examined Cain and recommended that he undergo physical therapy. Cain
    received physical therapy and continued to work on board the CAJUN
    EXPRESS. In April or May 2001, the CAJUN EXPRESS was finally completed
    and began drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico.
    Cain continued to work as a toolpusher on the CAJUN EXPRESS but was
    subsequently diagnosed with a herniated disc.          In September 2001, he
    discontinued work to undergo a cervical discectomy and fusion. Cain returned
    to work in December 2001, when Transocean assigned him to a “work
    hardening” program at the Fontana Center, a facility in Lafayette, Louisiana.
    While participating in the work hardening program, Cain allegedly experienced
    elevated blood pressure and suffered additional injuries.
    Cain filed suit under the Jones Act, alleging that his injuries were the
    result of Transocean’s negligence and the unseaworthiness of the CAJUN
    EXPRESS. He also alleged that Transocean was negligent in assigning him to
    the work hardening program.       Transocean moved for summary judgment,
    arguing that Cain was not a Jones Act seaman at the time of his injury because
    the CAJUN EXPRESS was not yet a “vessel in navigation.” The district court
    denied Transocean’s motion, concluding that the Supreme Court’s decision in
    3
    No. 05-30963
    Stewart had overruled Fifth Circuit precedent concerning watercraft under
    construction. The district court held that the CAJUN EXPRESS was a vessel at
    the time of Cain’s injury because under Stewart it was capable of transporting
    workers and equipment over water. This court granted Transocean’s petition for
    leave to appeal the district court’s denial of summary judgment. Fontana Center
    has not submitted a brief and has not raised any arguments on appeal.
    II. Discussion
    We review the district court’s denial of summary judgment de novo.
    Solano v. Gulf King 55, 
    212 F.3d 902
    , 905 (5th Cir. 2000). “Summary judgment
    is proper if the evidence shows the existence of no genuine issue of material fact
    and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” 
    Id.
    Transocean argues on appeal that under our established precedent the
    CAJUN EXPRESS was not a vessel in navigation, and therefore Cain was not
    a Jones Act seaman, because the rig was still under construction at the time of
    Cain’s injury. It further argues that the Supreme Court’s decision in Stewart
    has effected no change on our prior case law. We agree with both contentions.
    A. “Seaman” status and our established precedent
    We begin by describing two of the principal remedies available to injured
    workers who ply their trade in connection with the sea: the Jones Act and the
    Longshore Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (“LHWCA”). The two Acts are
    mutually exclusive compensation regimes. Becker v. Tidewater, Inc., 
    335 F.3d 376
    , 386 (5th Cir. 2003). The Jones Act permits a “seaman” to sue his employer
    for personal injuries suffered as a result of the employer’s negligence. Park v.
    Stockstill Boat Rentals, Inc., 
    492 F.3d 600
    , 602–03 (5th Cir. 2007) (citing 
    46 U.S.C. § 30104
    (a)). Such an action allows for potentially unlimited damages and
    is in contrast to the generally prescribed remedial scheme available to maritime
    workers under the LHWCA. See Becker, 
    335 F.3d at
    386–87. Congress did not
    define the term “seaman,” however, and left the courts to decide which maritime
    4
    No. 05-30963
    employees were covered by the Jones Act. Chandris, Inc. v. Latsis, 
    515 U.S. 347
    ,
    354 (1995).
    The LHWCA provides the exclusive remedy to land-based workers who fall
    within its provisions. 
    Id. at 355
    . It specifically excludes from its coverage “a
    master or member of a crew of any vessel.” 
    33 U.S.C. § 902
    (3)(G). The Supreme
    Court has held this exclusion to be a refinement of the term “seaman” under the
    Jones Act. Chandris, 
    515 U.S. at
    355–56. Thus, a key requirement for Jones Act
    coverage is actually found in the LHWCA. 
    Id.
    Under the Jones Act, a “seaman” is a term of art for an employee whose
    duties “contribut[e] to the function of the vessel or to the accomplishment of its
    mission” and who has “a connection to a vessel in navigation (or to an
    identifiable group of such vessels) that is substantial in terms of both its
    duration and its nature.” Chandris, 
    515 U.S. at 368
     (internal quotation marks
    and citation omitted); see also Garret v. Dean Shank Drilling Co., 
    799 F.2d 1007
    ,
    1009 (5th Cir. 1986) (“The worker is a seaman if he is assigned permanently to
    a vessel in navigation or performs a substantial part of his work on the vessel,
    contributing to the function of the vessel or to the accomplishment of its
    mission.”). The existence of a “vessel” is thus crucial to determining seaman
    status under the Jones Act. Holmes v. Atl. Sounding Co., 
    437 F.3d 441
    , 446 (5th
    Cir. 2006).
    We have long held that the Jones Act analysis requires a watercraft to be
    “in navigation,” and we have drawn a distinction between completed crafts and
    crafts that are under construction. A maritime worker “assisting in the building
    and ultimate commissioning of a launched but uncompleted vessel floating or
    maneuvering in navigable waters is not a seaman within the meaning of the
    Jones Act, because his vessel is not yet an instrumentality of commerce—private
    or public—and is therefore not ‘in navigation.’” Williams v. Avondale Shipyards,
    Inc., 
    452 F.2d 955
    , 958 (5th Cir. 1971). In Williams, we held that a launched
    5
    No. 05-30963
    ship conducting sea trials was not “in navigation” because it was not yet being
    used for its intended purpose. 
    Id.
    Similarly, in Garret, we held that an offshore drilling rig was not a vessel
    in navigation because, at the time of the plaintiff’s injury, the structure was still
    undergoing final construction to make it operational as an oil and gas drilling
    rig. 
    799 F.2d at 1009
    . We noted that the structure had never been engaged as
    an instrument of commerce and held that a “nonmerchant vessel is in navigation
    if it is engaged in its expected duties on navigable waters.” 
    Id.
    In the instant case, the CAJUN EXPRESS was still under construction at
    the time of Cain’s injury. Although the rig was capable of self-propulsion and
    had run some test pipe, it lacked vital equipment to make it fully operational as
    an oil and gas drilling rig. Indeed, as Daniel Haslam testified, no drilling
    contractor would have found the CAJUN EXPRESS fit to drill a deepwater well
    in the Gulf of Mexico. The CAJUN EXPRESS was not finally completed and
    placed into service until April or May 2001, after Cain was injured. Thus, under
    established Fifth Circuit precedent, the CAJUN EXPRESS was not a vessel in
    navigation and Cain was not a Jones Act seaman.
    B. Stewart
    We now turn to the Supreme Court’s decision in Stewart v. Dutra
    Construction Company. In Stewart, the Court addressed whether a dredge
    known as the SUPER SCOOP was a vessel under the LHWCA. 
    543 U.S. at 484
    .
    Although the case specifically concerned the LHWCA, we have recognized that
    Stewart’s analysis of the term “vessel” applies equally to the LHWCA and to the
    Jones Act. Holmes, 
    437 F.3d at 448
    .
    The SUPER SCOOP was a floating platform with a clamshell bucket
    suspended beneath the water used to remove silt from the ocean floor. Stewart,
    
    543 U.S. at 484
    . The dredge was engaged in digging a trench beneath Boston
    Harbor as part of the “Big Dig” project. 
    Id.
     It had limited means of self-
    6
    No. 05-30963
    propulsion and was typically moved by tugboat, but it could move short distances
    by manipulating its anchors and cables. 
    Id.
    The First Circuit applied its test for vessel status found in DiGiovanni v.
    Traylor Bros., 
    959 F.2d 1119
    , 1123 (1st Cir. 1992) (en banc), which had held that
    “if a barge . . . or other float’s purpose or primary business is not navigation or
    commerce, then workers assigned thereto for its shore enterprise are to be
    considered seamen only when it is in actual navigation or transit at the time of
    the plaintiff’s injury.” 
    Id.
     at 485–86 (internal quotation marks omitted). The
    First Circuit held that the SUPER SCOOP was not a vessel because any
    navigation was incidental to the craft’s primary function of construction. Id. at
    486. It also found significant the dredge’s stationary position at the time of the
    plaintiff’s injury. Id.
    The Supreme Court rejected the First Circuit’s test for vessel status,
    concluding that although Congress did not define “vessel” in the LHWCA or the
    Jones Act, it had already defined “vessel” elsewhere at the time both acts were
    passed. Id. at 487–88. Specifically, under 
    1 U.S.C. § 3
     (formerly § 3 of the
    Revised Statutes of 1873), a vessel “includes every description of watercraft or
    other artificial contrivance used, or capable of being used, as a means of
    transportation on water.” Significantly, § 3 codified the meaning that the term
    “vessel” had acquired in general maritime law, and the Court noted the historic
    case law prior to the Jones Act and the LHWCA where courts had often used
    § 3’s definition to conclude that dredges were vessels. Id. at 488–90 & n.5. The
    early case law showed that at the time the Jones Act and LHWCA were passed
    in the 1920s, a structure’s status as a vessel depended on whether the structure
    was a means of transportation. Id. at 491.
    Relying on § 3, the Court held that a vessel “is any watercraft practically
    capable of maritime transportation, regardless of its primary purpose or state
    of transit at a particular moment.” Id. at 497. In other words, the Court
    7
    No. 05-30963
    rejected the First Circuit’s two-pronged test, which had asked whether a craft
    was used primarily for transportation, and if not whether the craft was
    motionless or moving at the time of the plaintiff’s injury. The Court looked only
    to whether the dredge could be used for transportation. Because the SUPER
    SCOOP was not only capable of transporting men and equipment but had
    actually done so, the Court found that the dredge was a vessel for purposes of
    the LHWCA. Id. at 495.
    With respect to the requirement that a vessel be “in navigation,” the Court
    clarified that the requirement was meant to show only that structures could lose
    their vessel status if they are withdrawn from the water for extended periods.
    Id. at 496. The “in navigation” requirement does not stand apart from § 3 and
    “is relevant to whether the craft is ‘used, or capable of being used’ for maritime
    transportation.” Id. But “[t]he question remains in all cases whether the
    watercraft’s use ‘as a means of transportation on water’ is a practical possibility
    or merely a theoretical one.” Id.
    C. Stewart and vessels-to-be
    The district court held that the CAJUN EXPRESS was a vessel under
    Stewart because not only was it capable of transportation but it had also
    transported workers and equipment from Singapore to the Gulf of Mexico. We
    disagree, however, that Stewart was intended to apply to watercraft that are still
    under construction. “[W]e cannot overrule the decision of a prior panel unless
    such overruling is unequivocally directed by controlling Supreme Court
    precedent.” United States v. Zuniga-Salinas, 
    945 F.2d 1302
    , 1306 (5th Cir. 1991)
    (emphasis added). We conclude that our well-settled body of law in this area has
    not been effectively overruled.
    The language in Stewart is admittedly broad, and we have recognized that
    the Court’s decision significantly enlarges the types of unconventional and
    special purpose watercraft that now must be considered vessels that might not
    8
    No. 05-30963
    have met the test before Stewart. See Holmes, 
    437 F.3d at 448
    . Stewart began,
    however, by framing the issue before it narrowly: “whether a dredge is a ‘vessel’
    under [the LHWCA].” Stewart, 
    543 U.S. at 484
    . The Court decided that specific
    question, concluding that the First Circuit’s focus on an existing craft’s purpose
    and movement was inconsistent with the text of § 3 and the established meaning
    of “vessel” in general maritime law. We thus read Stewart’s instruction that a
    craft is a vessel if it is capable of marine transportation in the context of that
    case to negate the First Circuit’s test for an established structure.
    Stewart examined an already-completed structure in use for its intended
    purpose. Stewart did not concern what to do with ships and other structures
    under construction, and so the Court did not address whether § 3’s definition of
    vessel applies to incomplete structures that may be in a dry dock or a floating
    shipyard. In other words, Stewart did not consider whether an incomplete
    structure that “is not yet an instrumentality of commerce,” Williams, 
    452 F.2d at 958
    , is a vessel in navigation.     Rather, Stewart stressed that the “in
    navigation” requirement had nothing to do with locomotion and instead meant
    that “structures may lose their character as vessels if they have been withdrawn
    from the water for extended periods of time.” Stewart, 
    543 U.S. at 496
    . But for
    a structure to be able to lose its vessel status by being taken out of navigation,
    it must be equally true that a structure may not attain vessel status before it is
    ever put into “navigation.”
    Other courts have similarly concluded that an incomplete structure that
    has not been put into navigation as an instrument of commerce is not a vessel.
    See Caruso v. Sterling Yacht & Shipbuilders, Inc., 
    828 F.2d 14
    , 15–16 (11th Cir.
    1987); Frankel v. Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, 
    132 F.2d 634
    , 635–36 (4th Cir.
    1942). Moreover, courts have historically spoken of navigation in tandem with
    commerce. See, e.g., The Robert W. Parsons, 
    191 U.S. 17
    , 31 (1903) (holding that
    a barge drawn by horses in the Erie Canal was a vessel because “[s]o long as the
    9
    No. 05-30963
    vessel is engaged in commerce and navigation it is difficult to see how the
    jurisdiction of admiralty is affected by its means of propulsion”); Cope v. Vallette
    Dry-Dock Co., 
    119 U.S. 625
    , 627–28 (1887) (noting that “[a] ship or vessel, used
    for navigation and commerce, though lying at a wharf, and temporarily made
    fast thereto, as well as her furniture and cargo, are maritime subjects”); People’s
    Ferry Co. of Boston v. Beers, 
    61 U.S. 393
    , 401 (1857) (“[T]he admiralty courts now
    exercise jurisdiction over rivers and inland waters, wherever navigation is or
    may be carried on, and extends to almost every description of vessel which may
    be employed in transporting our products to market. . . . The admiralty
    jurisdiction, in cases of contract, depends primarily upon the nature of the
    contract, and is limited to contracts, claims, and services, purely maritime, and
    touching rights and duties appertaining to commerce and navigation.”).
    That is not to say that only commercial structures may become vessels and
    implicate admiralty jurisdiction. See, e.g., Sisson v. Ruby, 
    497 U.S. 358
    , 363–67
    (1990) (admiralty jurisdiction in tort requires inter alia that an incident have a
    potentially disruptive effect on maritime commerce and be substantially related
    to maritime activity, such as navigation, but the tortfeasor’s activity may be
    commercial or noncommercial). Rather, our precedent is not inconsistent with
    the historical perspective that vessels under construction are treated differently
    from completed vessels. See The Francis McDonald, 
    254 U.S. 242
    , 243–44 (1920)
    (holding in a contract case that shipbuilding has been considered a nonmaritime
    activity, whether or not the incomplete ship has been launched). We have
    previously noted “the historical tradition that vessels under construction give
    rise to neither a maritime contract nor a maritime tort.” Williams, 
    452 F.2d at
    958 n.5; see also Alfred v. MV Margaret Lykes, 
    398 F.2d 684
    , 685 (5th Cir. 1968)
    (holding that an employee may not maintain a tort action against his employer
    for an injury sustained on a vessel that has been launched but not fully
    completed or commissioned). We do not read Stewart to change this body of law,
    10
    No. 05-30963
    so that a structure under construction remains a non-vessel until it is complete
    and ready for duty upon the sea.
    We further think the preclusion from vessel status of crafts still under
    construction serves several important goals and is consistent with the concern
    for avoiding uncertainties and possible oscillation in and out of Jones Act status.
    See Stewart, 
    543 U.S. at 495
     (asking whether a watercraft is motionless or
    moving is the kind of “snapshot” test previously rejected and would
    impermissibly allow structures to oscillate back and forth between Jones Act
    coverage).
    Our cases show that shipbuilders frequently begin the construction process
    in a shipyard at one location and then transport the partially completed craft to
    another location to finish the construction process. See, e.g., Garret, 
    799 F.2d at 1008
     (barge hull transported by tug from shipyard in Houma, Louisiana, to
    Harvey, Louisiana, for completion of superstructure); Fredieu v. Rowan Cos.,
    Inc., 
    738 F.2d 651
    , 652 (5th Cir. 1984) (ship partially constructed in Vicksburg,
    Mississippi, towed to Belle Chasse, Louisiana); Hollister v. Luke Constr. Co., 
    517 F.2d 920
    , 921 (5th Cir. 1975) (barge towed from Harvey, Louisiana, to Houma,
    Louisiana, to complete drilling rig). Along the way, hundreds of employees work
    to complete these partially-built structures. The CAJUN EXPRESS had over
    200 men working on its completion. Stewart’s application to these vessels-to-be
    could have the consequence of creating vessels out of partial structures and
    transforming many land-based ship construction workers into Jones Act seaman,
    at least while they work in the service of the ship. At a minimum, it would
    unnecessarily expand the labyrinth that has developed in the case law
    concerning seaman status by requiring fact-intensive inquiries in the district
    courts into the relationship between such workers and the intended vessel. Cf.
    Chandris, 
    515 U.S. at 356
     (“We have made a labyrinth and got lost in it.”
    (internal quotation marks and citation omitted)). Marine employers (and their
    11
    No. 05-30963
    insurers) and employees, however, have an interest “in being able to predict who
    will be covered by the Jones Act . . . before a particular workday begins.” 
    Id. at 363
    .
    That interest is hindered with respect to the construction of watercraft
    because there will be many points along the continuum of a ship’s construction
    at which one could rationally argue it is “practically capable” of transportation
    and therefore a vessel. For example, a structure might become a vessel when it
    is merely capable of floatation but is still in dry dock; when it can be merely
    towed or pushed; when the navigation or propulsion systems are installed; when
    it has been inspected and commissioned; when it has been accepted for delivery;
    when a crew has been assigned; or when it is actually put to use. Our prior
    cases settle this uncertainty by asking whether the craft is complete. We
    continue to believe that “[f]or there to be a seaman, there must first be a ship,”
    but “an incompleted vessel not yet delivered by the builder is not such a ship.”
    Williams, 
    452 F.2d at 958
    .
    The difficulty of applying Stewart to vessels under construction may be
    seen with respect to the CAJUN EXPRESS. The testimony showed that the rig
    lacked vital equipment for its operations and that no drilling contractor would
    have found the CAJUN EXPRESS acceptable for duty in the Gulf of Mexico. It
    strains reason to say that a craft upon the water that is under construction and
    is not fit for service is practically capable of transportation.
    Moreover, mobile offshore drilling units like the CAJUN EXPRESS are
    subject to extensive Coast Guard regulations. See 
    46 C.F.R. §§ 107
    –09. Before
    operations begin the unit must receive an Original Certificate of Inspection
    certifying that it complies with all Coast Guard requirements, including
    regulations governing lifesaving and firefighting equipment. 
    Id.
     §§ 107.211,
    107.231. The record here shows that the Coast Guard performed an initial walk
    through of the CAJUN EXPRESS on August 31, 2000, as the first step in the
    12
    No. 05-30963
    process of certification, but the rig was not put into service until April or May
    2001. That the structure was not yet certified as operational and in compliance
    with all safety requirements casts doubt as to the practicality of its use as a
    means of transportation. To follow the district court’s decision here also runs the
    risk of concluding that a vessel that may not be legally permitted to operate is
    nevertheless practically, rather than theoretically, capable of transportation.1
    In short, although Stewart instructs that the “in navigation” requirement
    “is relevant to whether the craft is ‘used, or capable of being used’ for maritime
    transportation,” 
    543 U.S. at 496
    , that instruction does not consider in the first
    instance when a vessel-to-be becomes a vessel. We view that issue as a separate
    question from whether an unconventional watercraft is a vessel. We therefore
    hold that Stewart does not require us to modify our precedent regarding the
    vessel status of incomplete watercraft. As such, the CAJUN EXPRESS was not
    a “vessel in navigation,” and Cain was not a Jones Act seaman. Cain was thus
    not entitled to relief under the Jones Act for his September 10, 2000, injury.2
    III. Conclusion
    The district court’s denial of Transocean’s motion for summary judgment
    is REVERSED and the case is REMANDED to the district court for further
    proceedings consistent with this opinion. Costs shall be borne by Cain.
    1
    We do not hold that a watercraft that has not been certified by the Coast Guard can
    never be considered a vessel. See Holmes, 
    437 F.3d at
    443–44 (holding that a barge containing
    a floating dormitory that had not been inspected by or registered with the Coast Guard was
    a vessel). We note only that the absence of certification when legally required should inform
    the evaluation of a structure’s capability for transportation.
    2
    We note that in the district court Cain argued that even if the CAJUN EXPRESS was
    not a vessel he was a Jones Act seaman based on his overall employment because he was a
    seaman before joining the CAJUN EXPRESS and his essential duties never changed. The
    district court did not reach this issue because it concluded that the CAJUN EXPRESS was a
    vessel. The parties have not briefed the issue to us, and we express no opinion on its merit.
    We merely note its existence and point out that it remains unresolved in the district court.
    Further, Cain’s claims with respect to his alleged injuries at the Fontana Center are
    unresolved.
    13
    No. 05-30963
    14
    No. 05-30963
    PRISCILLA R. OWEN, CIRCUIT JUDGE, DISSENTING:
    This is a very difficult case, in my view. The panel’s opinion sets forth
    cogent arguments as to why there should be a bright-line rule as to when a
    vessel under construction becomes a “vessel in navigation” for purposes of
    determining whether an injured worker was a “seaman” within the meaning of
    the Jones Act. However, the language used by the United States Supreme Court
    in Stewart v. Dutra Construction Company3 is broad and seems to require us to
    conclude that the CAJUN EXPRESS is a contrivance that is capable of being
    used as a means of transportation on water since the CAJUN EXPRESS did in
    fact transport Cain and others across an ocean.
    There are undoubtedly conceptual difficulties in applying the principle
    that a “contrivance” becomes a vessel in navigation when it is a “watercraft
    practically capable of maritime transportation, regardless of its primary purpose
    or state of transit at a particular moment.”4 At some point prior to its actual
    commissioning, a “contrivance” under construction may become capable of
    maritime transportation in a physical and practical sense whether moored in the
    water or in dry dock. The uncertainties as to the hour or day the practical
    capability of maritime transportation occurs would seem a fertile source of
    contract and tort litigation and may lead to overlapping insurance
    arrangements, and unnecessary costs in obtaining that coverage. Additionally,
    a contrivance under construction may be moored for long periods of time while
    further construction continues after an initial voyage transported crew members
    on the seas, as was the case here.
    In spite of the certainty and predictability that the panel’s decision would
    bring in many if not most scenarios involving vessels under construction, the
    3
    
    543 U.S. 481
     (2005).
    4
    
    Id. at 497
    .
    15
    No. 05-30963
    CAJUN EXPRESS appears to have all the attributes that the Supreme Court
    ascribed to a “vessel” in Stewart. I therefore, very respectfully, dissent.
    16