Motts v. M/V Green Wave

CYNTHIA HOLCOMB HALL, Circuit Judge:

An unfortunate sea accident and the tragic events that followed it require us to consider the relationship between general federal admiralty jurisdiction and the Death on the High Seas Act (“DOHSA”). We hold that DOHSA applies where the decedent is injured on the high seas, even if a party’s negligence is entirely land-based and begins subsequent to that injury.

I

The decedent, Neville Motts, joined the M/V GREEN WAVE as Chief Engineer on January 10, 1998, for its voyage to McMurdo Station in Antarctica. The GREEN WAVE’S mission was to resupply the American…