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

____________ FILED October 13, 2023 No. 22-30371 Lyle W. Cayce ____________ Clerk

Certain Underwriters at Lloyds, London

Plaintiff—Appellant,

versus

Cox Operating,

Defendant— Appellee. ______________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court For the Eastern District of Louisiana USDC No. 2:20-CV-1177 ______________________________

Before Stewart, Dennis, and Southwick,* Circuit Judges. Per Curiam: Certain Underwriters at Lloyds, London (“Lloyds”) brought an intervenor complaint against Cox Operating LLC (“Cox”) seeking to recover maintenance and cure benefits Lloyds paid to an injured seaman. Cox filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that Lloyds bears responsibility for the payments under a protection and indemnity (“P & I”) policy under which Cox is an assured. The district court agreed and granted

_____________________ * Judge Southwick concurs in the judgment. Case: 22-30371 Document: 00516930361 Page: 2 Date Filed: 10/13/2023

22-30371

the motion. Lloyds timely appealed. Because the district court properly found that Lloyds is obligated to pay the maintenance and cure under the P & I policy, we AFFIRM. I. Factual and Procedural Background This intervenor suit arises from an underlying case whereby an injured seaman, James Michael Jones, sued Cox and his employer, nonparty Select Oilfield Services, LLC (“Select”). Jones brought claims of negligence and unseaworthiness based on injuries he sustained while employed by Select on a lift boat, the M/V SELECT 102, that Select time chartered to Cox. Jones, who was the captain of the M/V SELECT 102, sustained serious head injuries when he slipped and fell on a fixed saltwater platform owned by Cox. Select provided Jones’s services as part of a Master Services Agreement (“MSA”), under which Select agreed to supply Cox with equipment, goods, and services to aid in the production of natural gas and oil. Pursuant to the MSA, Select agreed to provide Cox with the M/V SELECT 102 lift boat, as well as a captain and crew to assist with Cox’s oil and gas production in the Eloi Bay Field in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana.1 As relevant to this intervenor suit, Select also agreed to defend and indemnify Cox for “all [l]osses of every kind and character arising out of bodily injury, illness, death, property damage of [Select], arising out of, in connection with, incident to or resulting directly or indirectly from this Agreement or the provision of any Services, Goods, or Equipment provided under” the MSA, regardless of fault. To cover these indemnity obligations, Select agreed to procure insurance policies that included Cox as an additional assured and

_____________________ 1 On its website, Cox describes the Eloi Bay Field as being “[l]ocated in state waters of L[ousiana].” Cox, Eloi Bay, https://coxoperating.com/footprint/eloi-bay/ (last visited October 12, 2023).

2 Case: 22-30371 Document: 00516930361