Sanko Steamship Co., Ltd. v. United States

272 F.3d 1231, 2002 A.M.C. 313, 2001 Daily Journal DAR 12487, 2001 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 9980, 2001 U.S. App. LEXIS 25362, 2001 WL 1511958

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• Decided: November 29, 2001
• Docket: 99-17538
• Status: Published

Opinion

WARDLAW, Circuit Judge:

Sanko Steamship Co. appeals the district court’s dismissal for lack of jurisdiction in a published order, 2000 A.M.C. 83 (N.D.Cal.1999), of its claim that the United States of America breached a duty to warn of a shoal in the Sacramento Deepwater Ship Channel. In determining that the United States was immune under the Flood Control Act, 33 U.S.C. § 702c, the district court relied on the “wholly unrelated” test, as more fully discussed in Central Green Co. v. United States, 177 F.3d 834 (9th Cir.1999). Since the time that the district court issued its decision, however, the United States Supreme Court reversed Central Green and established a more restrictive test for determining sovereign immunity. Central Green Co. v. United States, 531 U.S. 425, 121 S.Ct. 1005, 148 L.Ed.2d 919 (2001). Because this new test involves determination of facts that have not been fully developed, we reverse and remand for further proceedings in light of the Supreme Court’s Central Green decision.

REVERSED and REMANDED.