540
Opinion of the Court
the suit at hand. Navigation of boats in navigable waters clearly falls within the substantial relationship, Foremost, 457 U. S., at 675; storing them at a marina on navigable waters is close enough, Sisson, supra, at 367; whereas in flying an airplane over the water, Executive Jet, 409 U. S., at 270- 271, as in swimming, id., at 255-256, the relationship is too attenuated.
On like reasoning, the "activity giving rise to the incident" in this suit, Sisson, supra, at 364, should be characterized as repair or maintenance work on a navigable waterway performed from a vessel. Described in this way, there is no question that the activity is substantially related to traditional maritime activity, for barges and similar vessels have traditionally been engaged in repair work similar to what Great Lakes contracted to perform here. See, e. g., Shea v. Rev-Lyn Contracting Co., 868 F. 2d 515, 518 (CA1 1989) (bridge repair by crane-carrying barge); Nelson v. United States, 639 F. 2d 469, 472 (CA9 1980) (Kennedy, J.) (repair of wave suppressor from a barge); In re New York Dock Co., 61 F. 2d 777 (CA2 1932) (pile driving from crane-carrying barge in connection with the building of a dock); In re P. Sanford Ross, Inc., 196 F. 921, 923-924 (EDNY 1912) (pile driving from crane-carrying barge close to water's edge), rev'd on other grounds, 204 F. 248 (CA2 1913); cf. In re The V-14813, 65 F. 2d 789, 790 (CA5 1933) ("There are many cases holding that a dredge, or a barge with a pile driver, employed on navigable waters, is subject to maritime jurisdiction . . . § 7.54"); Lawrence v. Flatboat, 84 F. 200 (SD Ala. 1897) (pile driving from crane-carrying barge in connection with the erection of bulkheads), aff'd sub nom. Southern Log Cart & Supply Co. v. Lawrence, 86 F. 907 (CA5 1898).
The city argues, to the contrary, that a proper application of the activity prong of Sisson would consider the city's own alleged failure at properly maintaining and operating the tunnel system that runs under the river. City Brief 48-49. If this asserted proximate cause of the flood victims' injuries
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