Vaughan Baio & Partners’ Admiralty and Maritime Group has extensive experience in representing vessel owners and charterers, cargo shippers and receivers, stevedores and terminal operators, and towing companies and suppliers of necessaries, as well as their insurers. We have provided counseling and litigation support to these interests for claims involving personal injury and death, cargo loss and damage, collisions and allisions, pollution incidents and salvage and general average as well as charter party, freight, and payment disputes.
Our admiralty attorneys have also been active in representing interests engaged in the recreational boat industry, including individual owners and operators. This involves not only claims for personal injury and death and vessel damage and losses, but also the construction, repair, purchase and sale of vessels.
Our attorneys are knowledgeable and experienced with the unique practices and procedures that apply to admiralty and maritime claims. These include arresting and attaching vessels or other property, obtaining and preserving evidence, perfecting maritime liens and limiting liability pursuant to the Shipowners’ Limitation of Liability Act. Given our experience, clients have appointed us to represent their interests in matters arising outside the region, and our attorneys have handled cases in many other jurisdictions. We also maintain close relationships with maritime attorneys at ports throughout the United States and overseas, so we are in a position to obtain immediate assistance at those locations should the need arise.
We anticipate increased activity in the local ports. The Delaware River channel is being dredged to 45 feet, and the ports are expanding their facilities to accommodate the anticipated new business. Our admiralty and maritime attorneys are well qualified to provide representation with regard to the myriad incidents and issues that may develop during this exciting growth stage and in the years to follow.