By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//January 15, 2013//
U.S. Supreme Court
Civil
Admiralty — definition of vessel
A floating home is not a “vessel” under 1 U.S.C. 3.
But for the fact that it floats, nothing about Lozman’s home suggests that it was designed to any practical degree to transport persons or things over water. It had no steering mechanism, had an unraked hull and rectangular bottom 10 inches below the water, and had no capacity to generate or store electricity. It also lacked self-propulsion, differing significantly from an ordinary houseboat.
649 F. 3d 1259, reversed.
11-626 Lozman v. Riviera Beach
Breyer, J.; Sotomayor, J., dissenting.