§ 15.096.Steamboat or Other Vessel

The maritime counterpart to the railroad provision, and its first option is the distinctive one.

A suit against the owner of a steamboat or other vessel may be brought in the county or precinct in which: (1) the vessel may be found; (2) the cause of action arose; or (3) the liability accrued or was contracted.

"May be found" attaches venue to the vessel itself, wherever it happens to be. That echoes the admiralty tradition of proceeding against the ship, and it is intensely practical: a vessel is mobile, often owned by an entity with no Texas presence, and its physical location is the one reliable point of contact.

The third option covers the contract case separately. "Liability accrued or was contracted" reaches the place a charter or carriage agreement was made, which need not be where anything went wrong.

Between the three, a claimant can sue where the vessel is now, where the incident happened, or where the deal was struck.

Note that the section speaks of "county or precinct", not "county and precinct" as most of this subchapter does — a drafting variation in a provision of considerable age.

As with railroads, a crew member's injury claim goes elsewhere. A seaman sues under the Jones Act, which has its own venue provision earlier in the chapter. This section is for passengers, cargo owners, and others dealing with the vessel from outside.

Texas has a long Gulf coast, deepwater ports, and a large inland barge trade, so the provision is less archaic than the word "steamboat" suggests.