Brizo, LLC, as owner of the M/V Honey, 2007 163 Foot Twin Engine Yacht (ON 739735) v. Urieli Ramirez Carbajal

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedOctober 29, 2021
Docket20-11204
StatusUnpublished

This text of Brizo, LLC, as owner of the M/V Honey, 2007 163 Foot Twin Engine Yacht (ON 739735) v. Urieli Ramirez Carbajal (Brizo, LLC, as owner of the M/V Honey, 2007 163 Foot Twin Engine Yacht (ON 739735) v. Urieli Ramirez Carbajal) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Brizo, LLC, as owner of the M/V Honey, 2007 163 Foot Twin Engine Yacht (ON 739735) v. Urieli Ramirez Carbajal, (11th Cir. 2021).

Opinion

USCA11 Case: 20-11204 Date Filed: 10/29/2021 Page: 1 of 18

[DO NOT PUBLISH] In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit

____________________

No. 20-11204 ____________________

BRIZO, LLC, AS OWNER OF THE M/V HONEY, 2007 163 FOOT TWIN ENGINE YACHT (ON 739735), Plaintiff-Counter Defendant- Third Party Plaintiff-Appellee, versus URIELI RAMIREZ CARBAJAL, ROSALIA GORGONIO IXBA,

Defendants-Appellants,

UNKNOWN CLAIMANTS,

Claimant, USCA11 Case: 20-11204 Date Filed: 10/29/2021 Page: 2 of 18

2 Opinion of the Court 20-11204

OLD PORT COVE HOLDINGS, INC.,

Claimant - Counter Claimant - Third Party Defendant,

EASTERN MARINE SERVICES, INC., ZACHARY STAGGS,

Counter Claimants-Third Party Defendants.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 9:18-cv-80855-RLR ____________________

Before BRANCH, GRANT, and JULIE CARNES, Circuit Judges. JULIE CARNES, Circuit Judge: This case involves a horrible accident that led to the death of a diver, Luis Gorgonio Ixba. While cleaning the hull of the M/V Honey, which was a vessel owned by Brizo, LLC, Ixba was killed when a crew member activated a bow thruster. Urieli Ramirez Carbajal and Rosalia Gorgonio Ixba, the plaintiffs in this action, are the personal representatives of Ixba’s estate. USCA11 Case: 20-11204 Date Filed: 10/29/2021 Page: 3 of 18

20-11204 Opinion of the Court 3

Ixba’s estate 1 filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Florida state court alleging, among other things, negligence against Brizo and the crew of the M/V Honey. Pursuant to the Limitation of Liabil- ity Act 2 and Supplemental Rule 5 for exoneration of liability, Brizo then filed a complaint in admiralty in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. In response to that com- plaint, Ixba filed a Notice of Claims against Brizo, in which he al- leged Brizo’s negligence. Following discovery, the district court granted Brizo sum- mary judgment. The court found Ixba solely at fault for the acci- dent because he never notified the crew that he was present before he began his dive. In addition, the court faulted Ixba for having failed to employ a dive flag, as required by safety regulations. Ixba appeals. After careful review and with the benefit of oral argu- ment, we affirm. I. BACKGROUND A. Factual Background The pertinent facts of this case, as reflected in the district court’s order, are undisputed. Brizo owns the M/V Honey, a 164- foot yacht. Brizo contracted with Eastern Marine Services, a

1 The district court recognized that the Claimant in this case is the estate of Mr. Ixba. However, in the interest of brevity and clarity, the court referred to the Claimant as “Ixba.” In the interest of consistency, we will do the same. 2 46 U.S.C. §§ 30501–30512. USCA11 Case: 20-11204 Date Filed: 10/29/2021 Page: 4 of 18

4 Opinion of the Court 20-11204

commercial diver company, to clean its hull. On June 21, 2017, Eastern Marine sent an e-mail to Captain Smart of the M/V Honey, stating that the vessel’s next hull cleaning “was coming up approx- imately 6/26 [at] 7:00 P.M.,” which was five days later. The email, however, informed Captain Smart that this was just an estimated date, subject to change as: “our schedules constantly change, so the date and time is at best a rough approximation, thanks for un- derstanding the dynamics of our world.” There was no further communication from Eastern Marine regarding the upcoming cleaning and Captain Smart did not mention to his crew that the hull was due to be cleaned in the near future. Eastern Marine selected Ixba to be the diver to clean Brizo’s vessel. On June 27th, which was one day after the approximate date Eastern Marine had projected to Captain Smart, Ixba arrived to clean the yacht. At the time of Ixba’s arrival, all crew members were inside the vessel. Even though Eastern Marine divers cus- tomarily notify a crew member when they are about to commence diving operations, sadly Ixba never did so. Instead, he approached the vessel without identifying himself or notifying the crew mem- bers on the vessel that he had arrived and was about to begin his dive. Because he then immediately entered the water without ever announcing his presence, no member of the crew was even aware that he was under the boat. Adding to the lack of precautions taken by Ixba, he also failed to mark his presence in the water with a diver flag, as required by regulation. USCA11 Case: 20-11204 Date Filed: 10/29/2021 Page: 5 of 18

20-11204 Opinion of the Court 5

Unaware of Ixba’s presence, Captain Smart had disem- barked the vessel after Ixba had begun his dive, leaving Chief Mate Marks in charge. Unaware that anyone was diving under his boat and needing to move the boat closer to the dock to load some jet skis, Chief Mate Marks began the process of activating a bow thruster on the yacht. Before activating the thruster, Marks walked around the vessel and looked into the water—he saw no bubbles. Seeing no danger, Marks activated the thruster, tragically killing Ixba. B. The District Court’s Order Granting Brizo Summary Judgment Brizo moved for summary judgment on the question of its liability. The district court concluded that because Ixba was a “cov- ered worker” within the Longshore and Harbor Workers Compen- sation Act, 33 U.S.C. § 901 (“Longshore Act”), his claim for negli- gence against Brizo is governed by that Act. In so ruling, the court rejected Ixba’s contention that he was not covered by the statute. The court acknowledged that an exemption from the Longshore Act for work on recreational vessels potentially exists, but noted that “[t]he exemption only applies when the worker or accident at issue is covered by a state worker’s compensation law. 33 U.S.C. § 902(3)(F).” The court stated that Ixba “cites no evidence” that state worker’s compensation provisions apply to the accident in this case. Accordingly, the court concluded that Ixba was subject to the Longshore Act. USCA11 Case: 20-11204 Date Filed: 10/29/2021 Page: 6 of 18

6 Opinion of the Court 20-11204

Having found that that the Longshore Act covered this acci- dent, the court considered the three duties a vessel owes a contract harbor worker under that statute, as set out in Scindia Steam Nav- igation Co. v. De Los Santos, 451 U.S. 156 (1981): (1) a general duty to “turnover” a vessel in a safe manner to workers, (2) a duty to exercise reasonable care in the areas of the ship under active con- trol of the vessel, and (3) a duty to intervene. The district court reasoned that “the premise of all of the Scindia duties is that the vessel crew knows that workers are present to work on the vessel.” The court found that Brizo owed no duty to Ixba because “[n]ot only did Ixba fail to notify anyone on the vessel of his presence or work operations, he submerged himself under the water—he be- came invisible to the crew.” Accordingly, the court concluded that Brizo did not violate any duty owed Ixba, and it granted Brizo sum- mary judgment. II. DISCUSSION In arguing that the district court erred in granting summary judgment to Brizo, Ixba contends that the Longshore Act does not apply to the present case and that, instead, his negligence claims should be assessed under the general duty of reasonable care that is applicable in maritime tort cases, not the limited Scindia duties owed when the Longshore Act applies.

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