OPINION & ORDER Verplanck Fire District (“Petitioner” or “VFD”), as owner of the firefighting vessel Marine I, commenced this action on April 6, 2021 against Troy Dyckman (“Claimant” or “Dyckman”) pursuant to the Limitation of Liability Act of 1851, 46 U.S.C. §§30501, et seq., and Rule F of the Supplemental Rules for Certain Admiralty and Maritime Claims. (Doc. 1). Petitioner filed the Amended Complaint, the operative pleading, on September 20, 2021. (Doc. 8, “FAC”). The Court entered an Order on November 19, 2021 directing the Clerk of Court to issue a notice to all persons asserting claims with respect to the Amended Complaint that such claims must be filed on or before January 10, 2022 (Doc. 13), and the Clerk of Court accordingly issued a notice that same day (Doc. 14). Claimant filed his Claim on January 6, 2022 pressing three claims for relief: (i) a claim for negligence and unseaworthiness under the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C. §688; (ii) a claim for unseaworthiness under Seas Shipping Co. v. Sieracki, 328 U.S. 85 (1946); and (iii) a claim for negligence under general maritime law. (Doc. 16, “Claim”). Petitioner filed an Answer on January 17, 2022 and discovery in this action closed on September 30, 2022. (Doc. 18; Doc. 26). Petitioner filed its motion for summary judgment, pursuant to the briefing schedule set forth by the Court, on February 17, 2023 (Doc. 35; Doc. 36, “Russell Decl.”; Doc. 37, “56.1 Stmt.”; Doc. 38, “Pet. Br.”). Claimant filed his opposition (Doc. 40, “Cl. Br.”; Doc. 41, “Floriani Decl.”), and the motion was fully briefed with the filing of Petitioners reply (Doc. 40, “Reply”). For the reasons set forth below, Petitioners motion for summary judgment is GRANTED. BACKGROUND The Court recites the facts herein only to the extent necessary to adjudicate the extant motion for summary judgment and draws them from the pleadings, Petitioners Rule 56.1 Statement, Claimants responses thereto, and the admissible evidence proffered by the parties. Unless otherwise indicated, the facts cited herein are undisputed. I. Verplanck Fire Districts Operations VFD is an all-volunteer fire district providing fire protection, ambulance, and EMS services to the hamlet of Verplanck in Westchester County. (56.1 Stmt. 1). Approximately 90 percent of VFDs calls for service, since 2018, are land-based calls for medical assistance and land-based fire rescue calls. (Id. 6).1 VFD also owns and seasonally operates a 25.5-foot vessel, Marine I, which is used to perform fire rescue services in and around the Hudson River in northern Westchester County from April through mid-November each year. (Id. 8). Any volunteer firefighter who wants to operate Marine I to respond to a call on the Hudson River must first complete operational training provided by VFD. (Id. 11). VFD will only respond to a call on the Hudson River with Marine I if a trained operator and sufficient number of volunteer firefighters volunteer for the call. (Id. 13). VFD participates in New York States Length of Service Award Program (“LOSAP”) which provides a defined monetary retirement benefit to volunteer firefighters for each calendar year of active service. (Id. 16). The LOSAP requires a firefighter to accrue a minimum of fifty (50) points in a year to become eligible to receive the monetary retirement benefit for that year. (Id. 17). Points are awarded for each activity performed by a volunteer firefighter. (Id.). VFD prepares and maintains a yearly LOSAP Form for each individual firefighter for the purpose of determining a firefighters eligibility to receive a retirement benefit. (Id. 18). The LOSAP Form details the number of fire/rescue calls, ambulance/EMS calls, training events, and other miscellaneous activities performed by each volunteer firefighter for each month. (Id. 20). II. Dyckmans Service with the Verplanck Fire District Dyckman has been a volunteer firefighter with VFD since November 14, 2013. (Id. 2). He joined as a junior firefighter and became a full member of the VFD after turning 18 and completing a firefighting class. (Id. 3). The majority of Dyckmans service since joining the VFD involved responding to calls for medical assistance (EMS/ambulance services). (Id. 7). Dyckman did not participate in the operational training required to operate Marine I and was not authorized to operate Marine I, but he did complete a boating safety class on May 22, 2014 and was permitted to respond to calls on the Hudson River. (Id.
9-12). Dyckmans 2018 LOSAP Form states that he performed fifty-seven (57) activities in 2018 which included: responding to twenty-three (23) land-based fire/rescue calls, responding to twenty-three (23) land-based ambulance/EMS calls, attending four (4) drills, attending two (2) company meetings, performing three (3) firehouse cleanups, and attending two (2) parades. (Id. 23). Two (2) of Dyckmans fifty-seven (57) activities in 2018 took place on Marine I: (i) a July 2, 2018, “Marine Overview” drill; and (ii) an August 9, 2018, fire/rescue on the Hudson River near Croton, New York.2 (Russell Decl., Ex. 3 6). Three (3) of the ninety-five (95) activities identified in Dyckmans 2019 LOSAP Form were vessel-related. (56.1 Stmt. 28). Three (3) of the fiftynine (59) activities identified in Dyckmans 2020 LOSAP Form were vessel-related. (Id. 31). Dyckmans vessel-related activities accounted for approximately 3.51 percent, 3.16 percent, and 5.08 percent of his total activities with the VFD in 2018, 2019, and 2020, respectively. (Id.
