Over the past thirty years, criminal prosecutions of commercial shipping companies, cruise lines, ships’ officers, and shoreside managers have become an almost routine aspect of trading in United States ports. While the details of any specific prosecution can offer cautionary lessons for the maritime industry, broader insights can be gained by considering some of the more general characteristics of these prosecutions and the legal principles upon which they are based. This article discusses several of those topics, including the timelines for criminal investigations that affect maritime interests, the intent standards that apply for the federal pollution statutes that form the basis of many of these prosecutions, and the typical targets of these prosecutions. It also examines the doctrine of respondeat superior, which enables the government to prosecute maritime companies accountable for the illegal conduct of their employees, and the government’s aggressive use of a federal manslaughter statute following a number of fatal marine casualties.
This article offers insights that will enable the maritime community and both admiralty and maritime practitioners to better prepare for and manage the risks these criminal prosecutions present.
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"Critical Elements of Criminal Prosecutions Involving the Maritime Sector," by Gregory F. Linsin and Vanessa C. DiDomenico was published in the Journal of Maritime Law and Commerce (Vol. 55, No. 2).