M&F Fishing v. Copitas
The plaintiffs and appellants in this action are M&F Fishing, Inc. and a fishing vessel it owns known as the M/V Koorale (the Koorale) that operates out of American Samoa.[1] In September 2002, the High Court of American Samoa (the Samoan court) ordered the "arrest" of the Koorale in the harbor at Pago Pago as security for a personal injury claim under the Jones Act (46 U.S.C.App. 688) by one of its crewmembers, and appointed defendant George Copitas to act as substitute custodian of the vessel during its arrest period. In the present action, M&F alleged that Copitas's negligence as substitute custodian damaged the Koorale. Court affirm.
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