Recent Development by Larry E. Altenbrun
Herman Fields suffered serious injury when a section of the oil production rig he was repairing struck him on the head. At the time of injury, Fields was employed by Pool Company (Pool) and worked aboard an oil production facility located on the outer continental shelf, about one hundred miles off the coast of Alabama. Oryx Energy Company (Oryx) owns the Neptune Spar, the structure that Fields was aboard when injured. The Neptune Spar is “something akin to a giant buoy.” The floating, cylindrical shaped structure has a 72-foot diameter and a length of 705 feet. A production deck is attached to the portion of the spar that protrudes above the surface, containing crew quarters, life boats, bilge pumps, and production facilities. The Neptune Spar, designed as an oil production platform, was installed at its current location in September 1996 to service a field of seven oil wells. It is attached to the outer continental shelf by six chain wire lines connected to six pilings driven into the seabed. It is further secured by two pipelines that extend from the Neptune Spar to the sea floor and then away from the structure and by seven casing risers that connect the oil wells to the spar. The spar is capable of limited movement by tightening and slackening the six chain-wire lines. The Neptune Spar is expected to remain in its present location for at least fifteen years. Fields' injury occurred on February 20, 1997.
In August 1997, Fields filed a complaint against Pool and Oryx in Louisiana state court alleging negligence under the Jones Act and general maritime law. The defendants removed the case, alleging that Fields was not a Jones Act seaman because the Neptune Spar was a fixed platform, not a vessel. The district court denied Fields' motion to remand, holding that, as a matter of law, Fields was not a seaman. Hence, the provision of the Jones Act precluding removal was inapplicable. Next, the court granted Pool's motion for summary judgment, holding that, as an employee, Fields' remedy against Pool was limited to compensation under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA). The district court granted Fields' motion for entry of a final judgment with respect to Pool, and Fields appealed. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that a spar, designed to discover, open, and exploit an oil field, elaborately secured to the ocean floor and unlikely to be moved in the foreseeable future is a work platform and not a vessel as a matter of law despite its limited mobility and some physical similarities to a vessel. Fields v. Pool Offshore, Inc., 182 F.3d 353, 358 (5th Cir. 1999), cert. denied, 120 S. Ct. 1161 (2000) (mem.).
About the Author
Larry E. Altenbrun.
Citation
74 Tul. L. Rev. 2189 (2000)