Gabriele Kressly v. Oceania Cruises, Inc. ( 2017 )


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  •                 Case: 16-16889        Date Filed: 12/13/2017      Page: 1 of 8
    [DO NOT PUBLISH]
    IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
    ________________________
    No. 16-16889
    ________________________
    D.C. Docket No. 1:15-cv-23603-KMM
    GABRIELE KRESSLY,
    Plaintiff - Appellant,
    versus
    OCEANIA CRUISES, INC.,
    Defendant - Appellee.
    ________________________
    Appeal from the United States District Court
    for the Southern District of Florida
    ________________________
    (December 13, 2017)
    Before HULL and DUBINA, Circuit Judges, and RESTANI, * Judge.
    *
    Honorable Jane A. Restani, Judge for the United States Court of International Trade,
    sitting by designation.
    Case: 16-16889     Date Filed: 12/13/2017   Page: 2 of 8
    PER CURIAM:
    Gabriele Kressly (“Kressly”) appeals the district court’s order granting
    summary judgment to Defendant Oceania Cruise, Inc. (“Oceania”) on her
    negligence claim against Oceania for damages relating to physical injuries,
    physical handicap, lost wages, medical expenses, mental anguish, and loss of
    enjoyment of life resulting from an injury Kressly sustained while on board
    Oceania’s ship, the Regatta. After reviewing the record, reading the parties briefs,
    and having the benefit of oral argument, we affirm.
    I.    BACKGROUND
    Kressly and her husband boarded the Regatta on October 20, 2014, for a
    cruise scheduled to sail from Montreal to Quebec, Nova Scotia, Bar Harbor,
    Boston, New York, Charleston, and Miami. On November 1, near the end of the
    16-day cruise, the Regatta left Bermuda on a course towards Charleston, South
    Carolina. Early that morning, Captain Jakub Meinhardt Hanusson Hansen
    (“Captain Hansen”) noted the weather appeared to be significantly worse than what
    he had seen in the forecasts. When he realized the significant weather change,
    Captain Hansen adjusted the Regatta’s course to head further south and away from
    worsening weather conditions.
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    Around noon, Captain Hansen issued his first adverse weather
    announcement. Oceania has an established protocol for issuing warnings related to
    adverse weather conditions. (R. Doc. 31-11.) In addition to notifying the
    passengers that the ship will be experiencing adverse weather and reading the
    specific forecast, the Captain makes the following statement:
    Due to the potential of rough seas, we kindly ask our Guests to
    exercise extreme caution when moving around the ship, use the hand
    rails when on stairways, keep Stateroom, bathroom doors and
    cupboards closed, and fingers away from door frames, as doors may
    close suddenly and with some force. When using the shower or bath
    please use the hand rail. If proceeding on the open decks please use
    the handrails as the deck may be slippery from sea spray or rain. To
    avoid any discomfort to our Guests the stabilizers have been extended
    and the course and speed adjusted to minimize the ship’s motion.
    
    Id. As per
    Oceania’s policy, the Cruise Director makes the same announcement
    again immediately following the Captain’s announcement. (R. Doc. 31-11.)
    At approximately 5:00 p.m. that same day, Captain Hansen issued another
    warning and reduced the speed of the Regatta. In addition to the standard warning,
    Captain Hansen advised passengers that it was safest to remain seated on sofas
    until the weather improved and that the safest part of the ship was mid-ship, at
    deck four or deck five. According to the Captain’s logbook, the worst of the storm
    occurred between 5:00 p.m. and midnight. (R. Doc. 31-8.)
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    At about 6:10 p.m., Kressly attempted to stand and move across her cabin
    room when the ship pitched, causing her to be thrown into the air. As a result,
    Kressly suffered a fracture to her left hip, which required surgery, hospitalization,
    and physical therapy.
    II.       ISSUE
    Whether the district court properly granted summary judgment to Oceania
    on Kressly’s negligence claim.
    III.   STANDARD OF REVIEW
    We review “a district court’s grant of summary judgment de novo, applying
    the same legal standards used by the district court.” Galvez v. Bruce, 
    552 F.3d 1238
    , 1241 (11th Cir. 2008). “Summary judgment is appropriate where ‘there is
    no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to a
    judgment as a matter of law.’” Wooden v. Bd. of Regents of the Univ. Sys. of Ga.,
    
    247 F.3d 1262
    , 1271 (11th Cir. 2001) (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)).
    IV. DISCUSSION
    Essentially, Kressly urges this court to adopt a heightened standard of care
    for vessels when they transport passengers during tumultuous weather. She
    contends that the district court erred in granting summary judgment to Oceania
    because the district court applied the wrong standard of care under the unique
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    circumstances of this case. She also argues that Oceania had actual and
    constructive notice of the dangerous conditions because weather forecasts
    predicting the storm were available to the Captain days prior to the November 1
    storm, and the Captain witnessed firsthand the deteriorating weather conditions
    prior to the storm’s impact on the Regatta. Under these circumstances, Kressly
    argues that the reasonable standard of care was not sufficient, and Oceania owed
    her a heightened degree of care to protect her against the unique maritime peril that
    caused her accident. Just as the district court did, we reject Kressly’s arguments.
    The federal maritime law in this circuit is clear that the owner of a vessel in
    navigable waters owes passengers a duty of reasonable care under the
    circumstances. Sorrels v. NCL (Bahamas) Ltd., 
    796 F.3d 1275
    , 1279 (11th Cir.
    2015). Importantly, Kressly does not provide any circuit precedent to support her
    contention that, under the specific circumstances of this case, Oceania owed her a
    heightened standard of care. She refers to a Ninth Circuit case, Catalina Cruises v.
    Luna, 
    137 F.3d 1422
    (9th Cir. 1998), but mischaracterizes the court’s holding. In
    that case, the court merely clarified that “where the risk is great because of high
    seas, an increased amount of care and precaution is reasonable.” 
    Id. at 1425–26.
    In Kermarec v. Compagnie Generale Transatlantique, 
    358 U.S. 625
    , 79 S.
    Ct. 406 (1959), the Supreme Court held that “[i]t is a settled principle of maritime
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    law that a shipowner owes the duty of exercising reasonable care towards those
    lawfully aboard the vessel who are not members of the crew.” 
    Id. at 630,
    79 S. Ct.
    at 409. Kressly attempts to distinguish this valid law by asserting that that case
    involved a non-passenger/non-paying visitor. This distinction does not have any
    bearing upon the Supreme Court’s conclusion. The Court determined that a carrier
    owed an equivalent standard of reasonable care to any licensee aboard a vessel,
    whether categorized as a paying passenger or not. 
    Id. at 632,
    79 S. Ct. at 410. See
    also Chaparro v. Carnival Corp., 
    693 F.3d 1333
    , 1336 (11th Cir. 2012)
    (“Concerning the duty element in a maritime context the Supreme Court held in
    Kermarec [] that a ‘shipowner owes the duty of exercising reasonable care
    towards those lawfully aboard the vessel who are not members of the crew.’”
    (quoting Kermarec, 358 U.S. at 
    630, 79 S. Ct. at 409
    )); Keefe v. Bahama Cruise
    Line Inc., 
    867 F.2d 1318
    , 1322 (11th Cir. 1989) (“the benchmark against which a
    shipowner’s behavior must be measured is ordinary reasonable care under the
    circumstances . . . which requires . . . that the carrier have had actual or
    constructive notice of the risk-creating condition”).
    Because Oceania owed Kressly a reasonable standard of care, Kressly has to
    demonstrate that Oceania had the requisite notice of the dangerous conditions to
    the Regatta and its passengers. She cannot satisfy this requirement. The record
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    does not demonstrate that Captain Hansen was unreasonable in charting the
    Regatta’s course, let alone intentionally endangering passengers. Although
    Captain Hansen knew of the adverse weather prior to November 1, there is no
    indication that such severe weather was near the Regatta’s location. Even
    Kressly’s own expert, Douglas M. Torborg, a Master Mariner-Marine Consultant,
    does not provide any evidence to suggest that the route taken by Captain Hansen
    was not viable. He did state there was another route which, in his opinion, would
    have been the better course, but he proffers nothing to show that Captain Hansen’s
    course was unreasonable under the circumstances. (R. Doc. 31-6.) Moreover,
    Captain Hansen testified at his deposition that he was continually apprised of
    weather conditions; hence, Oceania did not have the requisite actual and
    constructive notice that the severity of the weather would necessarily cause a risk-
    creating condition in Kressly’s cabin.
    Finally, Kressly challenges the adequacy of Oceania’s warnings about the
    implications of adverse weather. However, the record supports that Captain
    Hansen’s warnings were sufficient. The warnings alerted the passengers that
    during the severe weather, they should remain seated, and the best place on the
    ship was mid-ship, either deck four or deck five. Kressly acknowledged that she
    heard the announcements about the severe weather and that she had sailed on 13
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    previous cruises. Furthermore, Kressly provides no evidence that the Captain or
    Oceania was aware of a specific risk-creating condition in her cabin due to the
    severe weather of which they had a duty to warn. See, e.g., Smith v. Royal
    Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., 620 F. App’x 727, 730 (11th Cir. 2015) (finding that
    Defendant did not breach its duty of reasonable care by failing to warn Plaintiff of
    a condition of which he, as a reasonable person, would be aware).
    In conclusion, because we reject all of the arguments Kressly makes in this
    appeal, we affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of
    Oceania.
    AFFIRMED.
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