Negligence: Robins Dry Dock Rule

摘要

The Pride Wyoming is a jack-up rig that was located around 90 miles off of the Louisiana coast when it lost its moorings and sank during Hurricane Ike and allegedly damaged pipelines owned by The Williams Companies and Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP). Pride Offshore filed a complaint in exoneration or for limitation of liability in conjunction with the sinking of the Pride Wyoming and Century Exploration filed a claim based on Pride Offshore's alleged negligence. Pride Offshore moved for summary judgment based in part on the Robins Dry Dock rule. That rule emanates from the Supreme Court decision in Robins Dry Dock & Repair Co. v. Flint, 275 U.S. 303 (1927) where the court laid down a rule that someone who either breaches a contract or is a tortfeasor, is not liable to another "merely because the injured person was under a contract with [a third party] with that other unknown to the doer of the wrong." 275 U.S. at 308-09. The rule has been applied to maritime cases except where there is a collision between two vessels not in privity of contract. Pride Offshore asserts that Century Exploration did not plead that Pride Offshore had knowledge of any contract between Century Exploration and the owners of the pipeline. Century did amend its complaint to allege that Pride Offshore acted recklessly and intentionally. It did so because there is another exception from the Robins Dry Dock rule that exists for intentional acts. At this stage of the pleadings, the court does not believe that granting Century Exploration's motion to amend its complaint would be futile so that it can fall within the exceptions to the rule. The court, however, does grant Pride Offshore's motion to dismiss all claims relating to damages to the pipeline because Century Exploration has not alleged that it has a proprietary interest in the pipelines that were allegedly damaged by the sinking of the jack-up rig.