Yacht Crew Member Sexual Assault Lawsuit

Yacht crew assaulted aboard flag-of-convenience vessels often assume they have no legal recourse. The flag state will not respond, local police will not pursue it, the owner sits behind layers of offshore corporate structure designed to be hard to reach, and the vessel keeps sailing. This case proves that assumption wrong.

The M/Y EALU flew the St. Vincent flag and was owned through a Marshall Islands LLC. The assault happened in Antiguan waters between non-U.S. parties. By the conventional analysis, no U.S. court should have been able to touch the vessel.

But under U.S. maritime law, a seafarer's right to a seaworthy vessel, which includes the right not to be sexually assaulted aboard the ship she works on, gives rise to a maritime lien that attaches to the vessel itself at the moment of injury. That lien does not depend on the flag, the ownership structure, the nationality of the parties, or where the assault occurred. It travels with the vessel. The first time the vessel enters U.S. waters, the lien is enforceable in U.S. court, and the vessel can be arrested to satisfy it.

By bringing her case, our client created a framework, a roadmap, and legal precedent for holding yacht owners accountable for sexual assaults aboard their vessels, regardless of the flag, the ownership structure, or where the assault occurred. The next yachtie harmed aboard a flag-of convenience vessel now has a path forward because our client took hers first.