Highlights
Rod Sullivan provided expert analysis and appeared in the BBC and PBS/NOVA documentary viewed worldwide, “Why Ships Crash”. He discussed the crash of the container ship Ever Given as well as the maritime disaster of the sinking of the SS El Faro.
Rod Sullivan gave more than 20 television and radio interviews for national and local media as a maritime expert on the capsizing and process of removal of the MV Golden Ray in the St. Simons Sound in Georgia.
In connection with the tragic sinking of the El Faro, Rod Sullivan gave over 40 television interviews as a maritime expert. He was on the CBS Evening News, On the Record with Greta van Susteren, Fox and Friends, National Public Radio, as well as all three Jacksonville Florida stations: New-4-Jax, First Coast News, and Action News Jacksonville. Thirty-three seamen and other workers perished in that sinking.
Rod Sullivan has been a maritime expert for China Central Television, CCTV in Washington and Beijing in connection with the sinking of the Eastern Star (MV Dong Fang Zhi Xing) in the Yangtze River in June of 2015. Over four hundred people died in that incident.
Television Appearances
March 27, 2024 | Jacksonville, FL
WJXT-TV. Maritime lawyer says major Baltimore bridge collapse could reroute shipments to Brunswick, Jacksonville.
Rod Sullivan, a veteran maritime lawyer, said the disaster in Baltimore could cause shipments to come to ports like Brunswick and Jacksonville.
March 27, 2024 | Jacksonville, FL
CNN Investigates. ‘Absolutely a wake-up call’: Key Bridge tragedy has markings of 1980 Baltimore crash, but worse
Rod Sullivan, a longtime maritime attorney in Florida, discusses how the Tampa Bay Skyway Bridge disaster of 1980 led to changes in bridge construction techniques.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/27/us/key-bridge-historic-crash-invs/index.html
March 18, 2024 | Jacksonville, FL
WJXT-TV. Path to the Polls: How far will the Supreme Court go to regulate social media?
News4Jax morning anchor Bruce Hamilton and Constitutional Law Expert Rod Sullivan discuss how far the Supreme Court will go in regulating social media and at what cost to our freedoms.
February 6, 2024 | Jacksonville, FL
WJXT-TV. Path to the Polls: US Supreme Court considers challenges to the bedrock of administrative law.
News4Jax morning anchor Bruce Hamilton and Constitutional Law Expert Rod Sullivan discuss the Supreme Court case concerning the Atlantic herring fisherman.
July 2, 2023 | Jacksonville, FL
WJXT-TV. Law professor recaps recent Supreme Court decisions including affirmative action, freedom of religion in court
The Supreme Court wrapped a tumultuous summer session on Friday, delivering decisions on landmark cases that will impact our lives for decades to come. A constitutional law professor, Rod Sullivan joined the Morning Show to discuss the subject.
April 29, 2023 | Jacksonville, FL
WJXT-TV. Gov. Ron DeSantis and Disney are headed to court over Reedy Creek district
The Walt Disney Company is suing Florida governor Ron DeSantis after a year-long battle over the Reedy Creek District. Constitutional law expert, Rod Sullivan, joins us to further discuss the legal dispute.
January 18, 2022 | BBC Production, United Kingdom
May 18, 2022 | PBS/NOVA Production, United States
BBC and PBS/NOVA documentary Why Ships Crash
When the bow of the colossal Ever Given container ship plowed into the bank of the Suez Canal on March 23, 2021, international supply chains ground to a halt. Maritime experts analyze other recent accidents and try to figure out how such devastating crashes could be prevented. Rod Sullivan provides expert analysis and appears in the documentary viewed world-wide, “Why Ships Crash”. He discusses the crash of the container ship “Ever Given” as well as the maritime disaster of the sinking of the “SS El Faro”.
The PBS/NOVA Production of Why Ships Crash | https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/why-ships-crash/
May 15, 2021 | Jacksonville, FL
First Coast News. Golden Ray cargo ship cleanup continues after Friday fire.
Maritime expert Rod Sullivan discusses the next steps after a fire started yesterday on the MV Golden Ray.
May 14, 2021 | Jacksonville, FL
First Coast News. The MV Golden Ray fire.
Maritime expert Rod Sullivan talks about The MV Golden Ray fire.
September 22, 2020 | Jacksonville, FL
First Coast News. Golden Ray instability failed maritime regulations.
Maritime expert Rod Sullivan explained the findings presented by the Coast Guard on the final day of testimony with FCN reporter Troy Kless.
February 17, 2020 | Jacksonville, FL
First Coast News. Company files lawsuit after being ‘kicked off’ Golden Ray salvage job.
New documents obtained by First Coast News detail reasons why the U.S. Coast Guard is facing a lawsuit for allegedly violating federal law. Jacksonville-based maritime attorney Rod Sullivan says he does not believe a judge will stop the salvage operation, which could start moving as early as this week.
December 30, 2019 | Jacksonville, FL
First Coast News. Experts weigh in on salvage of capsized Golden Ray cargo ship in St. Simons Sound.
First Coast News Reporter Troy Kless interviews maritime expert Rod Sullivan about options to remove the Golden Ray. The ship has been in the St. Simons Sound for several months.
October 7, 2019 | Jacksonville, FL
First Coast News. Golden Ray’s pilot praised during Georgia Port Authority address.
Other maritime experts like attorney Rod Sullivan agree with the Georgia Port Authority’s decision to praise the ship’s pilot. “It saved the port,” Sullivan told First Coast News Reporter Troy Kless. “I think he saw a bad situation developing and the best alternative was to go into shallow water, where it rolled over. It would be in an area easier to salvage it.”
September 24, 2019 | Jacksonville, FL
First Coast News. Closer look: What likely caused damage to Golden Ray cargo ship?
A closer look at the overturned Golden Ray cargo ship, which after two weeks is still in St. Simons Sound, reveals damage to the keel of the ship. News4Jax Tarik Minor, Anchor, I-TEAM reporter asked Rod Sullivan, a maritime expert and attorney, if the damage was significant.”
September 16, 2019 | Jacksonville, FL
First Coast News. Maritime expert believes ‘parbuckling’ will be used to remove cargo ship Golden Ray overturned in St. Simons Sound
Maritime expert Rod Sullivan discusses three potential three options that salvage teams will consider when it comes to removing the Golden Ray cargo ship, which overturned in the St. Simons Sound with News4Jax Tarik Minor.
September 11, 2019 | Jacksonville, FL
News4Jax. Capsized ship in Port of Brunswick: It’s happened before – 2015 incident in the United Kingdom happened at sea.
Maritime expert Rod Sullivan discusses with News4Jax reporter Scott Johnson the capsizing of the MV Golden Ray in the St. Simons Sound in comparison with the Hoegh Osaka run aground on Bramble Bank in the Solent between Southampton and the Isle of Wight.
https://www.news4jax.com/news/2019/09/11/capsized-ship-in-port-of-brunswick-its-happened-before/
September 5, 2019 | New York, NY
Fox News. Boat-blaze inquiry looks at multiple potential causes.
Florida Maritime attorney Rod Sullivan is quoted in this article on potential causes for this tragic California boat fire.
April 14, 2017 | Jacksonville, FL
News4Jax. Final 3 El Faro families settle with TOTE Services.
Rod Sullivan, a maritime attorney, discusses the impacts of final settlements of the employee lawsuits on the maritime industry with News4Jax Scott Johnson.
https://www.news4jax.com/news/2017/04/14/final-3-el-faro-families-settle-with-tote-services/
June 27, 2016 | Jacksonville, FL
Action News Jax. Charges likely after man’s leg amputated in boat accident.
Maritime attorney, Rod Sullivan discusses potential criminal charges that could arise in this boat accident with Action News Jax reporter Michael Yoshida.
February 17, 2016 | Jacksonville, FL
First Coast News. Marine board hearing into El Faro tragedy.
Local maritime attorney Rod Sullivan said the Coast Guard will ultimately decide whether new regulations need to be enacted to prevent this tragedy from happening to other ships.
January 3, 2016 | Jacksonville, FL
News4Jax. Expert: Video of sunken El Faro shows crew tried to escape.
Attorney Rod Sullivan said taking a closer look at the NTSB’s underwater video of the wreckage leads him to believe that the 33 crew members on board had time to try to escape before the ship sank.
https://www.news4jax.com/news/2016/01/04/expert-video-of-sunken-el-faro-shows-crew-tried-to-escape/
December 5, 2015 | New York, NY
Fox News – Fox & Friends. The El Faro Ship, Lost at Sea.
Maritime Attorney Rod Sullivan discusses the sinking of the El Faro with Steve Doocey on Fox & Friends on December 5, 2015.
First Coast News. Maritime lawyer wonders whether dated law affected El Faro.
October 14, 2015 | Jacksonville, FL
Maritime Attorney Rod Sullivan discusses how The Jones Act of 1920 regulates much of the seafaring trade between United States ports. In part, it says that all ships running those routes have to be American-made.
October 6, 2015 | Jacksonville, FL
News4Jax. Crew of El Faro trained to survive, experts say.
Maritime Attorney Rod Sullivan discusses the sinking of the El Faro with News4Jax Reporter Jim Piggott.
https://www.news4jax.com/news/2015/10/06/experts-crew-of-el-faro-trained-to-survive/
October 6, 2015 | Jacksonville, FL
Action News Jax. Maritime Attorney: El Faro captain should have made different decision.
Maritime Attorney Rod Sullivan who has experience on many ships, believes that the owner should have communicated earlier to turn the ship around.
June 4, 2015 | Washington, DC
CGTN America/CCTV News. Eastern Star Capsizing in the Yangtze River.
CCTV America interviewed maritime expert Rod Sullivan on the Yangtze River disaster.
