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

FILED No. 23-30892 November 15, 2024 ____________ Lyle W. Cayce Clerk Devin Barrios,

Plaintiff,

versus Centaur, L.L.C.,

Defendant/Intervenor Defendant—Appellee,

versus River Ventures, L.L.C.,

Defendant—Appellant, XL Specialty Insurance Company,

Intervenor Plaintiff—Appellant, ______________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana USDC No. 2:17-CV-585 ______________________________ Before Elrod, Chief Judge, and Dennis and Higginson, Circuit Judges. Per Curiam: Case: 23-30892 Document: 94-1 Page: 2 Date Filed: 11/15/2024

No. 23-30892

River Ventures, L.L.C. and its insurer XL Specialty Insurance Company (collectively “River Ventures/XL”) appeal the district court’s post-bench trial dismissal of their two maritime breach of contract claims brought against Centaur, L.L.C. We REVERSE and REMAND. I In 2015, Centaur entered into a Master Services Contract (“MSC”) with United Bulk Terminals Davant, L.L.C. (“UBT”). Centaur is an employer of construction workers and UBT is an owner of a dock facility on the Mississippi River. As a task under the MSC, UBT hired Centaur to build a concrete containment wall around the edge of a dock at its facility. River Ventures, an owner and operator of crew boats, provided vessel transportation for Centaur’s employees who worked on the dock project. Centaur employee Devin Barrios injured himself while transferring a generator from a River Ventures vessel onto a barge leased by Centaur. Litigation ensued, and the district court found River Ventures 100% at fault for the accident and imposed a $3.3 million judgment after a bench trial. River Ventures/XL satisfied the judgment and brought claims against Centaur under the MSC for breach of contract as third-party beneficiaries.1 Relevant to this appeal, the MSC imposed several insurance procurement obligations on Centaur in connection with the dock project, which were designed to mirror the MSC’s requirement that Centaur indemnify River Ventures/XL for all claims brought for personal injury of a Centaur employee regardless of cause or fault.2 This appeal only deals with

_____________________ 1 The parties do not dispute that River Ventures/XL are proper third-party beneficiaries of the MSC. 2 During the instant litigation, 33 U.S.C. § 905(b) ultimately nullified the MSC’s indemnity provision because the district court classified Barrios as a longshore worker.

2 Case: 23-30892 Document: 94-1 Page: 3 Date Filed: 11/15/2024

No. 23-30892

two alleged breach of contract claims related to the insurance requirements: (1) a breach of Centaur’s obligation to procure a Protection & Indemnity (“P&I”) insurance policy with coverage “not less than the P&I SP-23 (Revised 1/56) form of policy;” and (2) a breach of Centaur’s obligation to procure an excess/bumbershoot insurance policy without a sole fault exclusion. The district court held a bench trial on these claims, during whic