Court – actual possession of res necessary

The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled that a state must have actual possession of the res in order to be entitled to assert sovereign immunity in a maritime case involving a salvage claim. In the instant case, plaintiff salvage company filed salvage claims in federal court to various sunken logs (deadheads) retrieved from the bottom of several rivers in Georgia. The State of Georgia had surveyed the rivers and identified the locations of numerous sunken logs. It had enacted a statute asserting ownership of such logs and had adopted a regulatory scheme for obtaining permits for their recovery. After plaintiff recovered several such logs, it commenced the salvage claims in federal court. The State moved to dismiss the claims, asserting that the Eleventh Amendment to the US Constitution prohibited federal courts from adjudicating its interest in the logs. The court ruled that the State had only constructive possession of the logs. Federal admiralty jurisdiction is only preempted by sovereign immunity when the sovereign has actual possession of the res. Aqua Log v. Georgia, No. 07-00208-CV-1 (11th Cir., January 28, 2010). Note: The court also stated that its decision was limited to the specific issue of sovereign immunity and does not address which party should ultimately prevail on the merits.