The owner, operator, and/or his or her or its agent of any seagoing vessel, as defined in § 46-9-2, entering the waters or waterways of this state who shall violate the provisions of chapter 9 or 9.1 of title 46, regarding the obligation of a vessel to have a licensed pilot on board prior to entering a navigable waterway of the state or chapter 12 of title 46, regarding water pollution or any violation of any permit, rule, regulation, or order issued pursuant thereto, shall be strictly liable for any injury or damage resulting from the violation, including, but not limited to, damage or injury to the environment or natural resources of the state, injury to the person, property damage, or economic loss to any individual, corporation, partnership, or other business entity.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-12.3-2
Strict liability
Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case 810 F. Supp. 359 - In Re the Complaint of Ballard Shipping Co. (1993)
Most recently applied in 993 So. 2d 1078 - Curd v. Mosaic Fertilizer, LLC (September 2008)
P.L. 1990, ch. 198, § 1.
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: Rhode Island General Assembly. Reproduced from public-domain Rhode Island statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.