Dennis Creppel, Cross-Appellant v. Shell Oil Company, Cross-Appellee

CLARK, Chief Judge:

Shell Oil Co. appeals from a jury verdict finding it liable to Dennis Creppel for damages to his shrimp boat allegedly incurred on a Shell mineral lease on a navigable waterway in Louisiana territorial waters in the Gulf of Mexico. Because the trial court did not instruct the jury properly on the duty of care that Shell owed Creppel, we reverse.

I

The following recitation of facts favors plaintiffs proof. Creppel testified that shortly after midnight, August 15, 1980, he was piloting his shrimp boat toward Joseph Bayou to drop anchor for the night after an unsuccessful day of…