Case: 22-30261    Document: 00516988947       Page: 1    Date Filed: 12/04/2023




          United States Court of Appeals
               for the Fifth Circuit                        United States Court of Appeals
                                                                     Fifth Circuit

                              ____________                         FILED
                                                            December 4, 2023
                                No. 22-30261                    Lyle W. Cayce
                              ____________                           Clerk

   Marquette Transportation Company Gulf-Inland,
   L.L.C.,

                                                         Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                    versus

   Navigation Maritime Bulgare JSC, incorrectly identified as
   Navigation Maritime Bulgarea; Balkan Navigation,
   Limited,

                                    Defendants—Appellants/Cross-Appellees,

                                    versus

   Robert Johnson,

                        Third Party Defendant—Appellee/Cross-Appellant.
                 ______________________________

                 Appeal from the United States District Court
                    for the Eastern District of Louisiana
                          USDC No. 2:19-CV-10927
                 ______________________________

   Before King, Jones, and Duncan, Circuit Judges.
   Edith H. Jones, Circuit Judge:
         This action arises from a collision between the M/V STRANDJA and
   the M/V KIEFFER E. BAILEY on the Mississippi River. A jury found that
Case: 22-30261        Document: 00516988947              Page: 2      Date Filed: 12/04/2023




                                         No. 22-30261


   the owner of the KIEFFER E. BAILEY was not negligent with respect to the
   collision and awarded that vessel’s owner $114,000 damages after finding
   that the STRANDJA’s owner and manager were negligent and that the
   STRANDJA’s river pilot was grossly negligent. The noteworthy holding
   here is that Louisiana law governs the burden of proof for the pilot’s error.
   Accordingly, we AFFIRM in part, VACATE in part, and REMAND for a
   new trial as to the M/V STRANDJA and its owners and pilot Johnson.
                                  I. BACKGROUND
           On the morning of January 3, 2019, the STRANDJA was anchored at
   the New Orleans General Anchorage, which is situated along the western
   side of the Mississippi River. The ship was facing upstream and was secured
   by both a port and starboard anchor.1
           In preparation to return to sea, Captain Robert Johnson, a Louisiana
   state commissioned river pilot, boarded the vessel as its compulsory pilot.
   He requested that the STRANDJA’s master, Captain Kiril Karapanov,
   instruct the crew to heave the port anchor. The process of heaving the port
   anchor at first pulled the ship’s bow landward, to port. This landward
   movement was a natural result of the strain placed on the port anchor’s chain
   during the heaving process. When the port anchor released from the river
   bottom, the strain shifted to the starboard anchor, which had not yet been
   raised. This shift in strain caused the bow to change course and begin drifting
   to starboard, into the middle of the river. As the crew began heaving the
   starboard anchor, the drift to starboard continued. The ship ultimately
   drifted approximately 300 feet outside the general anchorage.


           _____________________
           1
            With the bow as the point of reference, “port” means the left side of the ship and
   “starboard” means the right.




                                                   2
Case: 22-30261     Document: 00516988947           Page: 3      Date Filed: 12/04/2023




                                    No. 22-30261


          While the STRANDJA was heaving anchors, the KIEFFER E.
   BAILEY—an inland tugboat pushing