Christopher MacDonald v. Kahikolu Ltd., Dba Frogman Charters

Christopher MacDonald appeals from the final judgment entered following a bench trial before Magistrate Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi. Mr. MacDonald seeks reversal on the ground that the trial court erred in concluding that the failure of Ap-pellee Kahikolu, Ltd. (“Kahikolu”), doing business as Frogman Charters, to comply with the United States Coast Guard regulations codified at 46 C.F.R., Ch. I, Subch. V, Pt. 197 (“Coast Guard regulations”) did not establish negligence per se liability under the Jones Act, 46 App. U.S.C. § 688. We vacate the judgment and remand for the limited purpose of having the district court make a finding as to whether Kahi-kolu’s failure to provide an operations manual to the person-in-charge of the Frogman II vessel, as required the Coast Guard’s scuba diving regulations, played any part in producing the injury, no matter how slight, to Mr. MacDonald.

I

Kahikolu conducts whale watching, scuba, and snorkel tour boat cruises off the coast of Maui, Hawaii. Mr. MacDonald worked as a deck hand on Kahikolu’s Frogman II, and was periodically required to do free dives to retrieve mooring lines that had sunk to the sea floor. Free dives are underwater dives on a…