Also known as: admiralty jurisdiction · maritime jurisdiction · Article III admiralty · admiralty clause
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The constitutional grant of judicial power to the federal courts over all cases arising from maritime activities and navigation. This authority covers contracts for carriage of goods by sea, torts occurring on navigable waters, and related disputes involving vessels.
Silver Sea shipped containers aboard a vessel operated by First Vessel under a bill of lading. During a storm hundreds of miles from land the containers shifted and sustained damage. Silver Sea sued in federal district court asserting admiralty jurisdiction over the maritime contract claim.
During wartime federal authorities seized a foreign vessel and brought it into a United States port. The owner contested the seizure in district court. The court exercised admiralty jurisdiction to determine title to the captured property.
A ship captured as prize was brought within United States waters. The claimant argued that the district court lacked authority because the capture occurred outside traditional admiralty bounds. The court upheld jurisdiction under the constitutional grant.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Aether Technologies contracted with Zapata Off-Shore Co. for ocean towing services. The agreement contained a forum-selection clause designating a foreign court. When a dispute arose the federal court enforced the clause while recognizing its own admiralty jurisdiction over the underlying maritime contract.
A longshoreman employed by States Marine Lines died while working aboard a vessel in navigable waters. His widow brought a wrongful-death action in federal court. The court applied admiralty jurisdiction to recognize a federal cause of action for the maritime death.
American Dredging Co. faced a personal-injury claim arising from dredging operations on navigable waters. The defendant invoked a state procedural rule that would bar the suit. The Supreme Court held that federal admiralty jurisdiction controlled and the state rule could not displace uniform maritime principles.
Yes. The constitutional text extends the judicial power to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction. This language commits such disputes to courts whose judges possess life tenure and salary protections.
Supporting sources
No. The Constitution places admiralty matters within the judicial power rather than the executive branch. Assigning them exclusively to an administrative body displaces the judicial authority the text assigns to Article III courts.
Supporting sources
A contract claim falls within admiralty jurisdiction when the contract is maritime in nature, such as a bill of lading for ocean carriage. The location of performance on navigable waters or the high seas reinforces that character.
Supporting sources
Yes. When a plaintiff proceeds on the law side under diversity and seeks damages, the Seventh Amendment preserves the jury right even though the claim could also qualify as maritime. The court may not convert the case to a nonjury admiralty proceeding over objection.
Supporting sources
…The first — cases arising under the Constitution, laws, and treaties of the United States; cases affecting ambassadors; and admiralty and maritime jurisdiction — appear to the framers to require that judicial power extend imperatively to all such cases either originally or on appeal. The second class — the other controversies enumerated — might…