Affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded by published opinion. Judge KING wrote the opinion, in which Judge DUNCAN and Judge CHILDS joined.
OPINION
Plaintiff Potenciano L. Aggarao, Jr., a citizen of the Philippines, brought suit against MOL Ship Management Company, Ltd., Nissan Motor Car Carrier Company, Ltd., trading as Nissan Carrier Fleet, and World Car Carriers, Incorporated (collectively, the “defendants”), for damages arising from severe injuries he sustained aboard the M/V Asian Spirit in the Chesapeake Bay near Baltimore.
1
Aggarao’s Complaint alleged multiple claims against the defendants, including unseaworthiness, maintenance and cure, breach of contract, violation of the Seaman’s Wage Act, and negligence under general maritime law and the Jones Act. The district court dismissed the Complaint for improper venue, concluding that Aggarao is contractually obligated to arbitrate his claims in the Philippines.
See Aggarao v. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd.,
I.
The devastating injuries suffered by Aggarao that give rise to this civil action occurred while he was employed as an able seaman aboard the Asian Spirit. Prior to his employment thereon, Aggarao had signed several agreements that bear on the resolution of this appeal. The relevant facts are set forth below. 2
A.
On June 2, 2008, Aggarao entered into a “Philippine Overseas Employment Ad *361 ministration Contract of Employment” (the “POEA Contract”) with an entity called Magsaysay Mitsui O.S.K. See J.A. 184. 3 The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (the “POEA”) — part of the Philippine Ministry of Labor and Employment — had prepared the POEA Contract, which provides that “the terms and conditions in accordance with [POEA] Department Order No. 4 and Memorandum Circular No. 9 ... shall be strictly and faithfully observed.” Id. The referenced documents in turn incorporate the “Standard Terms and Conditions Governing the Employment of Filipino Seafarers On-Board Ocean-Going Vessels” (the “POEA Terms”), which Aggarao also signed. See id. at 185-90. Together, the POEA Contract and the POEA Terms are intended to ensure minimum employment standards for Filipino seafarers employed by foreign corporations. Section 29 of the POEA Terms includes a mandatory arbitration clause, providing in part:
In cases of claims and disputes arising from this employment, the parties covered by a collective bargaining agreement shall submit the claim or dispute to the original and exclusive jurisdiction of the voluntary arbitrator or panel of arbitrators.
Id. at 187 (the “Arbitration Clause”). Section 31 includes a choice of law clause, specifying:
Any unresolved dispute, claim or grievance arising out of or in connection with this Contract ... shall be governed by the laws of the Republic of the Philippines, international conventions, treaties and covenants where the Philippines is a signatory.
Id. (the “Choice of Law Clause”). Additionally, Section 20 of the POEA Terms prescribes, in relevant part, the “liabilities of an employer when the seafarer suffers work-related injury or illness during the term of his contract ... as follows”:
If the injury or illness requires medical ... treatment in a foreign port, the employer shall be liable for the full cost of such medical ... surgical and hospital treatment as well as board and lodging until the seafarer is declared fit to work or to be repatriated....
[P]ayment for injury, illness, incapacity, disability or death of the seafarer under this contract shall cover all claims arising from or in relation with or in the course of the seafarer’s employment, including but not limited to damages arising from the contract, tort, fault or negligence under the laws of the Philippines or any other country.
Id. at 186 (the “Liability Clause”).
For purposes of the POEA Contract, Magsaysay Mitsui, a Philippine crewing company, was the agent of defendant MOL — a Japanese company managing the officers and crew of the Asian Spirit. Defendant World Car, a Liberian company, owned, operated, and manned the Asian Spirit. Aggarao was hired as a crewman of the Asian Spirit, which was chartered by defendant Nissan, a Japanese entity. Under the terms of its charter agreement with World Car, Nissan was responsible for instructing the ship on its destination and cargo.
One day after signing the POEA Contract, on June 3, 2008, Aggarao entered into a “Seafarers Employment Contract” (the “Seafarers Contract”) with Magsaysay Mitsui that incorporated the terms of a collective bargaining agreement called the “IBF JSU/AMOSUP-IMMAJ CBA” (the *362 “CBA”). See J.A. 191-221. World Car and Nissan were bound to the CBA through an “IBF [International Bargaining Forum] Special Agreement.” See id. at 1421-22. On about June 3, 2008, the POEA approved the Seafarers Contract. With Aggarao on board as a crewman, the Asian Spirit thereafter departed from Manila.
B.
On August 13, 2008, the Asian Spirit was navigating in the Chesapeake Bay en route to the Port of Baltimore where it was scheduled to load a cargo of motor vehicles. Aggarao was working to raise floor panels in the ship in preparation for receipt of the cargo load. As the crew began raising the floor panels, Aggarao was crushed between a deck lifting machine and a pillar. He was promptly airlifted to the nearby University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center (the “UM Trauma Center”), where he was treated for severe injuries to his spinal column and cord, his chest cavity, and his abdomen. Dr. Thomas M. Scalea performed emergency surgery for “litigation of vessels, bowel resection, and splenectomy.” J.A. 533. During the next few weeks, Aggarao endured a barrage of additional surgeries and medical procedures, twelve in all.
On October 15, 2008, Aggarao was discharged from the UM Trauma Center and, on Dr. Scalea’s recommendation, transferred within the University of Maryland Medical System (“UMMS”) to Kernan Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation for follow-up treatment, including physical and occupational therapy in the spinal cord unit. Aggarao presented to Kernan with “T4 ASIA A paraplegia with complete paralysis” and “absent bowel and bladder control.” J.A. 539. Dr. Henry York was Aggarao’s physician at Kernan. On November 18, 2008, Dr. York reported that Aggarao had made “excellent progress towards his goals of independent functional mobility” in terms of, inter alia, “bed mobility,” and “transfers between his bed and his wheelchair [and] between level surfaces.” Id. Dr. York contemplated that Aggarao would receive “further physical therapy” and recommended that he acquire an ultra-lightweight wheelchair, so that he could achieve optimal mobility when he returns to the Philippines. Id. at 539-42.
According to a declaration of the defendants’ paralegal, made on June 4, 2010, Dr. York and a physical therapist had agreed, at a meeting eighteen months earlier, on December 4, 2008, that Aggarao “had reached as full a recovery as Kernan Hospital could provide him”; “was able to care for himself [as] he had been taught how to catheterize himselfl,] manage his wheelchair[, and] get in and out of a car”; and “was ready for the trip to the Philippines.” J.A. 1326’ By letter of December 8, 2008, the defendants informed Aggarao that, given the extent of his rehabilitation, the owners and insurers of the Asian Spirit authorized travel arrangements for his return to the Philippines and would not be providing financial assistance to him for further medical care in the United States. Nevertheless, Aggarao declined to be repatriated to the Philippines for fear that he could not receive adequate medical treatment there. He also believed that his aging parents, who live in a remote rural area, would be unable to care for a paraplegic and he would die.
On February 25, 2009, Aggarao was discharged from Kernan and relocated to a nearby Days Inn hotel. Kernan arranged to pay, for seven days only, the costs of his room and board at the hotel, plus a nurse to make regular visits. Meanwhile, the defendants reiterated that the owners, managers, and insurers of the Asian Spirit would honor their obligations under the *363 POEA contract and Philippine law, including providing Aggarao further medical care, but only upon his return to the Philippines. In response, Aggarao insisted that, notwithstanding his course of rehabilitation at Kernan, Dr. Scalea, his UM Trauma Center surgeon, had recommended that he remain in the United States for abdominal reconstructive surgeries. Aggarao forwarded to the defendants Dr. Scalea’s letter of March 10, 2009, which explained:
I have been caring for Potenciano Aggarao since his injury date on August 13, 2008.... In my opinion, the ideal therapy for this patient is staged abdominal wall reconstruction.... This is a highly complicated situation and I believe it is in Mr. Aggarao’s best interest to remain in the United States to have the procedures done at the Shock Trauma Center. This is a procedure best done in a tertiary care facility. More importantly, I believe that optimal results will occur if he is cared for in an institution that knows him inside and out.
J.A. 562.
Forced by financial necessity to leave the Days Inn in April 2009, Aggarao eventually moved in with a Filipino-American friend, who agreed to provide lodging and assist with his medications and personal hygiene for $100 per day. 4 Later that month, the defendants arranged for Future Care, Inc., a provider of medical care management services, to monitor Aggarao’s medical needs. They also offered a one-time payment of less than $500 for Aggarao’s prescriptions, if he agreed to be repatriated to the Philippines; otherwise, Aggarao would be obligated to pay for his own medical care in the United States. Aggarao rejected the proposal and instead borrowed money to pay for his medications.
C.
On June 16, 2009, Aggarao initiated this civil action in the Eastern District of New York. Shortly thereafter, on June 29, 2009, the defendants settled his bills with UMMS for hospitalization and medical treatments, in the aggregate sum of $944,530.99. The defendants then advised Aggarao that they were “ready and willing” to arrange for his repatriation to the Philippines and to “provide further appropriate medical care in that country,” but would “have no further responsibility for, and will not pay for, any further medical care” in the United States. J.A. 1356. 5
In preparation for his abdominal reconstructive surgeries, Aggarao underwent weekly skin expansion procedures between August and October 2009. In the meantime, he applied to UMMS for medical assistance and was examined by Dr. Ana T. Acevedo. In her October 30, 2009 report, Dr. Acevedo concluded that Aggarao would “need appropriate and diligent medical care for the rest of his life,” and that he was “unlikely to have the expert medical care that he needs” if he returned to his “small village in the Philippines.” J.A. 679.
On November 17, 2009, these proceedings were transferred to the District of Maryland. Shortly thereafter, on January 5, 2010, Dr. Scalea performed the first of two planned abdominal reconstructive sur *364 geries on Aggarao. Following that surgery, Dr. Scalea observed in his report that Aggarao will require a second stage abdominal reconstruction and concluded again that it was in the “best interest of Mr. Aggarao to remain in the United States to have the follow-up care that he requires and additional operative procedures done here at the Shock Trauma Center.” J.A. 690. Aggarao was discharged from the UM Trauma Center on January 9, 2010, but was rushed back to the Center two days later due to complications. Thereafter, he was referred to a shelter called Healthcare for the Homeless.
On January 21, 2010, the defendants moved, inter alia, to dismiss the Complaint for improper venue under Rule 12(b)(3), pursuant to the Arbitration Clause. Aggarao opposed the motion to dismiss, arguing that the Arbitration Clause was not enforceable. Aggarao also served multiple discovery requests on the defendants; however, the parties thereafter agreed that no discovery would be conducted pending the court’s disposition of the venue and arbitration issues.
Aggarao was subsequently moved from the homeless shelter to his Filipino-American caretaker’s home. He was then examined by Elizabeth Davis, a rehabilitation counselor at Life Care Resources, Inc. Davis’s report of February 1, 2010, observed, inter alia, that Aggarao was “at extreme risk for further serious complications including infection and autonomic dysreflexia which is an emergency situation,” and would need a “high level of care” to function and to maintain his health. J.A. 727-37. Davis also prepared a Life Care Plan, detailing the treatment and maintenance that Aggarao would require. On February 18, 2010, Dr. Scalea performed another surgical procedure, for a bed sore, at the UM Trauma Center. At that time, Aggarao learned that he would be eligible for Medicaid benefits for emergency care only. On February 24, 2010, he was again discharged from the UM Trauma Center, and transferred for rehabilitation to the UMMS-affiliated University Specialty Hospital. Aggarao was approved for rehabilitation on the possibility that it would be paid through the Medicaid program. On March 11, 2010, UMMS filed a lien against him for more than $91,000 in unpaid medical bills. 6
Aggarao thereafter retained Dr. Richard P. Bonfiglio, a specialist in rehabilitation, to conduct a medical evaluation and review his medical records. Dr. Bonflglio’s April 19, 2010 report explained that Aggarao “needs extensive, ongoing daily, medical and rehabilitative care [as] delineated in the Life Care Plan developed by Elizabeth Davis, RN.” J.A. 930. Bonfiglio also concluded that Aggarao “can best receive this level of care in the United States,” and therefore
strongly advocate[d] that [Aggarao] not be deported for the complexity of his current medical condition would likely lead to his premature death, if he is forced from the United States. [Aggarao] would not receive the level of medical care that he needs in other countries especially the Philippines.
Id.
Two days later, on April 21, 2010, Aggarao filed a motion in the district court seeking a preliminary injunction, compelling MOL and World Car to, inter alia, provide maintenance and cure for him in the United States, until he could attain maximum medical cure (the “injunction re *365 quest”). 7 In opposition to the injunction request, the defendants submitted the declaration of Dr. Natalio G. Alegre, a general surgeon practicing at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Manila. Dr. Alegre explained that St. Luke’s is a “world-class institution,” “the foremost hospital in the Philippines,” and “a tertiary care facility” with “state-of-the-art facilities.” J.A. 1362-63. Dr. Alegre had apparently reviewed Aggarao’s medical records and concluded that “[njothing has been done in the United States for Mr. Aggarao during that period that could not have been done to equal effect in the Philippines,” including his abdominal wall reconstruction. Id. at 1364. Dr. Alegre also explained that it was “well within the capability of practitioners and institutions in the Philippines” to provide Aggarao with the level of care described in the Life Care Plan prepared by Davis. Id. Dr. Alegre disagreed with Dr. Bonfiglio’s conclusions, deducing that,
[w]ith the appropriate medical accompaniment, Mr. Aggarao could safely travel from the United States to the Philippines. His medical, surgical, rehabilitative, and psychiatric needs can all be handled in the Philippines.
Id. at 1365.
D.
On September 30, 2010, the district court issued its Opinion in this case, ruling that the Arbitration Clause was enforceable, and that Aggarao was equitably es-topped from pursuing in federal court his separate claims against World Car and Nissan, which were nonsignatories to the POEA Contract. Hence, the court concluded that the Arbitration Clause “must be enforced” and dismissed Aggarao’s claims against MOL, World Car, and Nissan for improper venue.
See Aggarao,
On October 21, 2010, Aggarao filed a timely notice of appeal. We possess jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291.
II.
We review de novo a district court’s determination on arbitrability of a civil action.
See United States v. Bankers Ins. Co.,
We review for abuse of discretion a district court’s denial of a preliminary injunction.
See Dewhurst v. Century Aluminum Co.,
III.
A.
In 1958, UNESCO adopted the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the “Convention”). The United States acceded to the Convention in 1970, and Congress implemented it by enacting Chapter 2 of Title 9 of the United States Code (“the Convention Act”).
10
“The goal of the Convention,” the Supreme Court has explained, “was to encourage the recognition and enforcement of commercial arbitration agreements in international contracts and to unify the standards by which agreements to arbitrate are observed and arbitral awards are enforced in the signatory countries.”
Scherk v. Alberto-Culver Co.,
In deciding whether to enforce a foreign arbitration clause implicating the Convention Act, courts have emphasized four jurisdictional factors:
that (1) there is an agreement in writing within the meaning of the Convention; (2) the agreement provides for arbitration in the territory of a signatory of the Convention; (3) the agreement arises out of a legal relationship, whether contractual or not, which is considered commercial; and (4) a party to the agreement is not an American citizen, or that the commercial relationship has some reasonable relation with one or more foreign states.
Balen v. Holland Am. Line Inc.,
In addressing the four jurisdictional factors, Aggarao acknowledges that two of them are satisfied. First, the Arbitration Clause provides for arbitration in the Philippines, which is a signatory of the Convention (Factor Two), and, second, he is not a citizen of the United States (Factor Four). Nevertheless, Aggarao contends that jurisdictional Factors One and Three have not been satisfied. More specifically, he maintains that there was never an agreement to arbitrate (Factor One) because the Seafarers Contract and the CBA superseded — or at least modified— the POEA Contract, and thus annulled the Arbitration Clause. Moreover, Aggarao posits that an agreement to arbitrate could not have arisen from a commercial legal relationship (Factor Three) because a seaman’s employment contract is exempt from the FAA definition of “commerce.”
Notwithstanding the jurisdictional prerequisites, Aggarao asserts that the Arbitration Clause cannot divest the district court of jurisdiction over his Seaman’s Wage Act claim and, by extension, his other claims for relief. He also suggests that enforcement of the Arbitration Clause and the Choice of Law Clause would contravene the public policy of this country by forcing him to waive his statutory claims under the Jones Act and the Seaman’s Wage Act. Even if he is required to arbitrate his claims against MOL, however, Aggarao insists that he should be able to proceed against World Car and Nissan in the district court, rather than in arbitration in the Philippines, because they are not signatories to the POEA Contract and owed duties to him that are distinct from those owed by MOL. We assess Aggarao’s contentions in turn.
1.
First, Aggarao contends that there is no binding arbitration agreement because the Seafarers Contract and the CBA constituted a novation that served to supersede the POEA Contract. A contractual novation has four elements: “(1) [a] previous valid obligation; (2) the agreement of all parties to [a] new contract; (3) the validity of such new contract; and (4) the extinguishment of the old contract by the substitution of the new contract.”
Holder v. Maaco Enterps.,
The Opinion accurately observed that “there is no indication, either expressed or implied, that both parties intended the Seafarers Contract to constitute a novation of the POEA Contract.”
Aggarao,
Alternatively, Aggarao contends that the Seafarers Contract and the CBA at least modified the POEA Contract so as to repeal the Arbitration Clause. As we have explained, however, “[w]hen a party seeking to avoid arbitration contends that the clause providing for arbitration has been superseded by some other agreement, the presumptions favoring arbitrability must be negated expressly or by clear implication.” Zandford v. Prudential-Bache Sec., Inc., 112 F.3d 723, 727 (4th Cir.1997) (internal quotation marks omitted). Aggarao maintains that such a “clear implication” is found in Article 28.5 of the CBA, which provides, in pertinent part, that “[a]ny payment [for permanent disability sustained during the course of a seafarer’s employment], shall be without prejudice to any claim for compensation made in law.” J.A. 205. Aggarao interprets Article 28.5 to authorize actions at law for personal injury claims, which, he asserts, countermands the Arbitration Clause.
Put succinctly, we are unwilling to accept Aggarao’s construction as the proper and clear implication of Article 28.5. In construing an arbitration agreement under “common law principles of contract interpretation ... due regard must be given to the federal policy favoring arbitration, and ambiguities as to the scope of the arbitration clause itself resolved in favor of arbitration.”
United States v. Bankers Ins. Co.,
Read together, the Arbitration Clause and Article 28.5 authorize Aggarao to pursue his legal claims through arbitration. Harmonizing those two provisions in that manner satisfies “two prime interpretive dictates regarding judicial review [ — ] that
all
contractual provisions be read to make sense, and that arbitration be favored.”
See H.C. Lawton, Jr., Inc. v. Truck Drivers, Chauffeurs & Helpers Local Union No. 384,
2.
Next, Aggarao contends that the Arbitration Clause is not subject to the Convention Act, which applies only to disputes arising from commercial legal relationships involving foreign countries. See 9 U.S.C. § 202. In this respect, he maintains that the POEA Contract did not create a commercial legal relationship because the FAA is the source of the definition of “commercial,” and it exempts from that definition the employment contracts of a seaman. In particular, Aggarao directs us to that part of the FAA defining the term “commerce,” providing that “nothing herein contained shall apply to contracts of employment of seamen.” 9 U.S.C. § 1 (the “ § 1 exemption”). Aggarao asserts that § 1 defines that which is commercial for all of Title 9, including § 202, which restricts the scope of the Convention Act to commercial legal relationships. Alternatively, he argues that § 208 makes the § 1 exemption applicable to § 202. Otherwise, we should resolve any ambiguity by resorting to legislative history, which, according to Aggarao, plainly shows that the § 1 exemption was meant to apply to § 202.
As the Opinion observed, Aggarao’s contentions have been squarely rejected by at least three of our sister circuits, which have held that the § 1 exemption does not apply to the Convention Act.
See Aggarao,
The Fifth and Eleventh Circuits have explained that the reference in § 202 to § 2 does not exclusively limit the definition of “commercial” to the contracts described in § 2, but is illustrative of the types of commercial legal relationships meant to be covered by § 202.
See Bautista,
Nor is the § 1 exemption incorporated by § 208. As the Ninth Circuit observed in
Rogers,
§ 208 “incorporates the provisions of the FAA unless they are ‘in conflict with’ either the Convention Act or the Convention.”
Id.
at 1155. Incorporating the § 1 exemption would create just such a conflict because “[n]either the Convention nor the limiting language ratifying the Convention contemplate any exception for seamen employment contracts or employment contracts in general.”
See Francisco,
Because § 202 is “plain and unambiguous ... there is no need for recourse to legislative history.”
See Van Alstyne v. Elec. Scriptorium, Ltd.,
3.
Aggarao next contends that, even if the Convention Act’s jurisdictional prerequisites are satisfied, the Arbitration Clause cannot divest the district court of jurisdiction because the Seaman’s Wage Act entitles him to access a federal court to resolve his claim thereunder.
See
46 U.S.C. § 10313(i) (providing federal “courts are available to seamen for enforcement” of wage claims).
13
And, because “[r]etention by the district court of [seamen] wage claims requires the court, absent ‘special circumstances,’ to exercise jurisdiction over all claims,” he asserts that the Arbitration Clause has no effect in this case.
See Morewitz v. Andros Companía Maritima, S.A.,
The Ninth and Eleventh Circuits have determined that “[t]he Convention Act expressly compels the federal courts to
*371
enforce arbitration agreements,” notwithstanding the jurisdiction conferred on such courts to adjudicate Seaman’s Wage Act claims.
See Rogers,
4.
Next, Aggarao persists in his view that arbitration of his Jones Act and Seaman’s Wage Act claims in the Philippines will contravene the public policy of the United States.
14
He portends that, pursuant to the Choice of Law Clause, the arbitrator would apply the law of the Philippines to the exclusion of otherwise applicable American law, thereby denying his right to pursue his federal statutory claims. Aggarao maintains that such a deprivation of his rights contravenes our public policy, as established by the “prospective waiver doctrine” first articulated by the Supreme Court in
Mitsubishi Motors Corp. v. Soler Chrysler-Plymouth, Inc.,
in the event the choice-of-forum and choice-of-law clauses operated in tandem as a prospective waiver of a party’s right to pursue statutory remedies for antitrust violations, we would have little hesitation in condemning the agreement as against public policy.
Mitsubishi,
Purporting to follow the Court’s mandate in
Mitsubishi
and
Sky Reefer,
the Eleventh Circuit opined that an arbitration agreement could be deemed “null and void as a matter of public policy” if it is clear
*372
that the arbitrator would not apply the law of this country, and no assurance of court review would follow.
See Thomas v. Carnival Corp.,
The Supreme Court has recognized this two-stage approach, adhering to the arbitration-enforcement and award-enforcement stages in both
Mitsubishi
and
Sky Reefer.
Confronted in
Mitsubishi
with the possibility that the law of Switzerland would govern an agreement subject to arbitration in Japan, the Court nevertheless declined “to speculate on this matter at th[at] stage in the proceedings, when Mitsubishi [sought] to enforce the agreement to arbitrate, not to enforce an award.”
The Eleventh Circuit’s
Thomas
decision erroneously conflated the two stages of arbitration-related court proceedings, merging the null-and-void and public policy defenses and ruling that the arbitration agreement was “null and void
as a matter of
public policy.”
Moreover, the problem with applying the public policy defense at the first stage of the arbitration-related court proceedings — the arbitration-enforcement stage — is that the defense “cannot be applied ‘neutrally on an international scale,’ as each nation operates under different statutory laws and pursues different policy concerns.”
See Lindo,
5.
Finally, Aggarao contends that, even if he is obliged to arbitrate his claims against MOL, the district court erred in concluding he was equitably es-topped from pursuing his claims against World Car and Nissan because they are not signatories to the POEA Contract. Without a doubt, however, “a nonsignatory to an arbitration clause may, in certain situations, compel a signatory to the clause to arbitrate the signatory’s claims against the nonsignatory despite the fact that the signatory and nonsignatoiy lack an agreement to arbitrate.”
Am. Bankers Ins. Group, Inc. v. Long,
Although Aggarao maintains that MOL, World Car, and Nissan had separate roles in the injuries he suffered, and that each owed him distinct legal duties, his Complaint alleges that each was his “employer,” and that it was “within the course and scope of his employment” that he sustained injuries “because of the unsafe and unseaworthy condition of [the Asian Spirit], fault, breach of agreement, violation of law, and negligence of the Defendants.” J.A. 20-23, 25 (emphasis added). Indeed, Aggarao essentially alleges the same *374 claims against MOL, World Car, and Nissan — unseaworthiness, maintenance and cure, breach of contract, violation of the Seaman’s Wage Act, and negligence under general maritime law and the Jones Act— employing the same allegations as the bases for liability:
• The defendants were “negligent for failing to provide [Aggarao] with a safe place to work, a seaworthy vessel, appurtenances and personnel, and in furnishing defective equipment,” J.A. 40, 42, 49, 51, 58, 60;
• “The injuries and impairments sustained by [Aggarao] were caused and contributed to, in whole or in part, by the negligence of [the defendants] through [their] officers, supervisors, agents, servants and/or employees, masters and officers of the M/V ASIAN SPIRIT, acting within the scope of their respective employment,” id. at 41, 42, 50, 51, 59, 60;
• “The injuries and impairments sustained by [Aggarao] were proximately caused and/or substantially contributed to by the unseaworthiness of the M/V ASIAN SPIRIT,” id. at 44, 53, 62;
• “To date, [the defendants have] failed to provide maintenance, cure and unearned wages as required,” id. at 45, 54, 63; and
• The defendants have breached their “employment agreements with [Aggarao by failing to pay him his full wages due],” id. at 48, 57, 66.
Aggarao protests that the foregoing allegations are insufficient for equitable estoppel purposes, because his Complaint does not also allege “pre-arranged, collusive behavior demonstrating that the claims are intimately founded in and intertwined with the [arbitration] agreement at issue.”
See Donaldson Co., Inc. v. Burroughs Diesel, Inc.,
Aggarao’s claims against MOL, World Car, and Nissan allegedly arose from the same “occurrence” or “incident,” i.e., the tragic circumstances on the Asian Spirit in August 2008 resulting in his injuries.
See
J.A. at 27-28. The conduct of MOL, World Car, and Nissan was coordinated by virtue of each defendant’s alleged involvement in that incident — instigating and contributing to one another. In the first place, MOL, apparently carrying out the orders of Nissan, directed the seamen of the Asian Spirit to make preparations to load its cargo while the ship was yet in the Chesapeake Bay, instead of in the Port of Baltimore where those tasks could be more safely accomplished. These unsafe conditions were said to be exacerbated by design defects in the Asian Spirit and its deck lifting machine, rendering World Car’s ship unseaworthy. MOL, in turn, allegedly provided improper supervision to an inexperienced crew negligently operating the deck lifting machine — a crew that World Car had the responsibility to man. In short, Aggarao’s claims against MOL depend, “in some part, upon the nature of tortious acts allegedly committed” by Nissan and World Car, and vice versa.
See Brown v. Pac. Life Ins. Co.,
Moreover, Aggarao emphasizes in his claims against MOL, World Car, and Nissan that his injuries occurred while he was acting in the scope of his employment. The POEA Contract sets forth terms and conditions of employment, including obligations to provide a seaworthy vessel, maintenance and cure, and wages. Hence, each of Aggarao’s claims against Nissan, World Car, and MOL implicates, in some manner, the POEA Contract. Consequently, each of his claims falls within the scope of the Arbitration Clause. We are thus satisfied — as was the district court— that the doctrine of equitable estoppel applies, and that Aggarao must arbitrate his claims against the signatory MOL as well as those claims alleged against the nonsignatories Nissan and World Car. 17
B.
Although we affirm the district court’s determination that the Arbitration Clause is enforceable, we reject its procedural disposition of the case — i.e., dismissal of the Complaint with prejudice and denial of the injunction request as moot. Contrary to the court’s apparent supposition, it was not divested of jurisdiction once it concluded that Aggarao’s claims were subject to arbitration in the Philippines. The Supreme Court in
Sky Reefer
explicitly recognized that a district court could, in foreign arbitration cases, properly retain jurisdiction after referring the parties to arbitration pursuant to the Convention Act.
Id.
at 540-41,
Moreover, we have recognized that, “[w]hen a valid agreement to arbitrate exists between the parties and covers the matter in dispute, the FAA commands the federal courts to stay any ongoing judicial proceedings and to compel arbitration.”
Hooters of Am., Inc. v. Phillips,
Although we have acknowledged that “dismissal is a proper remedy when all of the issues presented in a lawsuit are arbitrable,”
Choice Hotels Int’l, Inc. v. BSR Tropicana Resort, Inc.,
As a corollary to the foregoing, the district court was not obliged to deny the injunction request as moot when it deemed Aggarao’s claims to be arbitrable. We have recognized that the “hollow-formality” test may be applicable in such circumstances, explaining that,
where a dispute is subject to mandatory arbitration under the [FAA], a district court has the discretion to grant a preliminary injunction to preserve the status quo pending the arbitration of the parties’ dispute if the enjoined conduct would render that process a “hollow formality.” The arbitration process would be a hollow formality where “the arbitral award when rendered could not return the parties substantially to the status quo ante.”
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith v. Bradley,
1.
a.
When Aggarao made his injunction request there were genuine issues of material fact regarding whether the defendants had provided adequate maintenance and cure to him and, relatedly, whether he was fit to be repatriated to the Philippines. Aggarao insisted that MOL and World Car had breached their obligations under general maritime law to provide him maintenance and cure “until he reache[d] maximum medical recovery.”
See Vaughan v. Atkinson,
The status quo to be preserved by a preliminary injunction, however, is not the circumstances existing at the moment the lawsuit or injunction request was actually filed, but the “last uncontested status between the parties which preceded the controversy.”
See Stemple v. Bd. of Ed. of Prince George’s Cnty.,
b.
The district court is also empowered to assess the second aspect of the injunction request, that Aggarao remain in the United States pending arbitration because he is not fit to be repatriated to the Philippines, or because he will not receive adequate medical care in that country. Obviously, Aggarao cannot be returned to the status quo ante if his repatriation to the Philippines for the arbitration proceedings might result in his demise, or if the lack of adequate medical care there would prejudice his already debilitated condition. Therefore, in evaluating whether the injunction request passes the hollow-formality test, the court should decide whether *379 Aggarao is fit to be repatriated and, if so, whether he can receive adequate medical care in the Philippines without severely jeopardizing his life and health. 24
The parties have presented conflicting medical opinions on both these questions. On remand — in the absence of an agreement by the parties — the district court should weigh these conflicting opinions and, if warranted, receive supplemental evidence.
Cf. Breese v. AWI, Inc.,
2.
Irrespective of the outcome of the injunction request, the court should stay this case pending the arbitration proceedings to ensure that Aggarao will have an opportunity at the award-enforcement stage for judicial review of his public policy defense based on the prospective waiver doctrine. We recognize that the Ninth and Eleventh Circuits have surmised that a plaintiffs access to a federal court in this country should be virtually guaranteed following foreign arbitration proceedings.
See Lindo,
rv.
Pursuant to the foregoing, we affirm the district court’s judgment that the Arbitration Clause is enforceable and that Aggarao must arbitrate his claims against the defendants in the Philippines. We nevertheless vacate the dismissal of this case and remand for reinstatement thereof, for assessment of the injunction request, for entry of a stay pending arbitration, and for such other and further proceedings as may be appropriate.
AFFIRMED IN PART, VACATED IN PART, AND REMANDED
Notes
. The Complaint also initially named as defendants Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd., World Marine Company, Ltd., the University of Maryland Medical System Corporation, and three unknown persons identified only as John Does. Aggarao raises no issues on appeal regarding the dismissals of those defendants.
. Our recitation of the facts is drawn from the Opinion, the Complaint, and the parties’ submissions concerning various motions, including multiple declarations and exhibits. Although we view the facts in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, they are largely undisputed.
. Citations herein to “J.A. _” refer to the contents of the Joint Appendix filed by the parties in this appeal.
. As of April 2010, Aggarao owed his Filipino-American caretaker approximately $33,000.
. On this record, the defendants have adhered to their ultimatum that they will have no further responsibility for "any further needed care” in the United States. Indeed, they have not provided any financial assistance to Aggarao for maintenance and cure for nearly three years, since June 2009.
. According to Aggarao’s calculations, UMMS’s lien was underinclusive, in that he then had more than $130,000 in unpaid medicaí bills and expected to incur thousands more.
. By the injunction request, Aggarao alleged that the owner of the Asian Spirit (World Car) and his employer (MOL) have general maritime duties to provide maintenance and cure. Although his Complaint also alleged a maintenance and cure claim against Nissan, Aggarao did not seek injunctive relief against that defendant.
. With respect to the injunction request, the court observed by footnote that it had "no doubt and indeed regret[ted] the severity of [Aggarao's] medical condition [but] that [did] not alter the requirement for arbitration in this case."
Aggarao,
. Although our
Sucampo Pharm.
decision involved a forum-selection clause, the Supreme Court has characterized an arbitration clause as "a specialized kind of forum-selection clause.”
Scherk v. Alberto-Culver Co.,
. The Ninth Circuit recently explained the relationship of the Federal Arbitration Act (the "FAA”) to the Convention Act:
Federal arbitration law is codified in the three chapters of Title 9 of the United States Code [only two of which are relevant here]. The [FAA] comprises the first chapter. See 9 U.S.C. §§ 1-14. [The legislation] implementing the treaty ... commonly called the Convention Act, comprises the second chapter. See 9 U.S.C. §§ 201-208.
Rogers v. Royal Caribbean Cruise Line,
. We are also unpersuaded that the heading of § 1 — "exceptions to operation of title"— supports Aggarao's position that the seaman’s employment contract exemption is meant to apply throughout Title 9, including in § 202. Although “words in the title of a statute or the heading of a section can shed light on the meaning of an ambiguous word or phrase in the text of the statute, they cannot create an ambiguity where none otherwise would exist.”
Francisco,
. The legislative history that Aggarao points to — an ambassador’s testimony before a Senate committee — is unavailing. The ambassador testified that
the definition of commerce contained in section 1 of the original [FAA] is the national law definition for the purposes of the declaration. A specific reference, however, is made in section 202 to section 2 of title 9, which is the basic provision of the original [FAA],
S. Comm, on Foreign Relations, Foreign Arbitral Awards, S.Rep. No. 91-702, at 6 (1970). Even if the ambassador believed the § 1 exemption "should apply to the Convention Act, his views as a single State Department official are a relatively unreliable indicator of statutory intent."
Bautista,
. Aggarao alleged that the defendants owed him nominal wages for work performed before the accident. Subsections (e) and (f) of § 10313 of Title 46 provide for the payment of wages within certain specified times, depending on whether the seaman makes a demand before or after expiration of the voyage. Subsection (i) renders § 10313 applicable to "a seaman on a foreign vessel when in a harbor of the United States.”
. In similar fashion to the Seaman's Wage Act, the Jones Act provides a statutory remedy and federal forum to resolve disputes between seamen and their employers. Whereas the Seaman’s Wage Act governs contractual disputes concerning compensation for services performed, the Jones Act addresses actions in tort arising from workplace injuries:
Any seaman who shall suffer personal injury in the course of his employment may, at his election, maintain an action for damages at law, with the right of trial by jury. and in such action all statutes of the United States modifying or extending the common-law right or remedy in cases of personal injury to railway employees shall apply.
46 U.S.C. § 30104. The Jones Act thereby “incorporates the judicially developed doctrine of liability of the Federal Employers Liability Act,” which governs the injury claims of railway workers.
See Martin v. Harris,
. Similarly, in
Sky Reefer,
the Court determined that an arbitration clause was enforceable even though it provided for arbitration in Japan and expressly stated that it was to be governed by the law of Japan. 'The Court decided that the choice of law issue was "premature,” as it had not been established "what law the arbitrators will apply ... or whether [the plaintiff would] receive diminished protection as a result.”
. It is possible that the Philippine arbitrator(s) will apply United States law with respect to the Jones Act and Seaman's Wage Act claims, or that Aggarao will be able to effectively vindicate the substance of those claims under Philippine law and obtain an adequate remedy. Indeed, the Liability Clause suggests that any payment for Aggarao's injuries under the POEA Contract cover his "claims [for] damages arising from the contract, tort, fault or negligence under the laws of the Philippines
or any other country.”
J.A. 186 (emphasis added). The defendants have indicated, however, that they intend to argue, even under the Supreme Court's choice of law principles, that United States law should not apply.
See Lauritzen v. Larsen,
. Aggarao raises a concern that Nissan, a Japanese corporation, and World Car, a Liberian corporation, may not be subject to the jurisdiction of the arbitrator(s) in the Philippines. At oral argument, however, the defendants' eminently able lawyer, on behalf of MOL, Nissan, and World Car, agreed that his clients will submit to arbitration in the Philippines, and will not interpose any defenses they may possess concerning the timeliness of the arbitration. We are satisfied that Nissan and World Car will abide by those representations.
See Irwin v. Dep’t of Veterans Affairs,
. There may be some tension between our decision in
Hooters
— indicating that a stay is required when the arbitration agreement "covers the matter in dispute” — and
Choice Hotels
— sanctioning dismissal "when all of the issues presented ... are arbitrable.” Our sister circuits are divided on whether a district court has discretion to dismiss rather than stay an action subject to arbitration.
Compare Cont’l Cas. Co. v. Am. Nat'l Ins. Co.,
. Our 1981 decision in
Podar Bros., supra
at Part III.A.4., does not foreclose application of the hollow-formality test in this case. Indeed, the defendants make no such contention. We determined in
Podar Bros,
that a district court lacked authority to issue a prejudgment attachment because it was "contrary to the parties’ agreement to arbitrate and the Convention.”
. Maintenance has been defined as “the right to sustenance and unearned wages for the period from the onset of the injury to the end of the voyage; cure is the right to medical care until the seaman reaches the point of maximum cure.”
Martin,
. The defendants argued that World Car, the Asian Spirit’s owner, never had an obligation to provide maintenance and cure because, when the employer and shipowner are separate entities, only the employer (MOL) bears that obligation.
. Under general maritime law, a seaman’s fitness for repatriation is not determinative of his right to maintenance and cure; rather, the obligation to provide maintenance and cure persists until he "attains ‘maximum cure,’ defined as the point at which he is either cured or his condition is diagnosed as permanent and incurable.”
Del. River & Bay Auth.
v.
Kopacz,
. We are not hesitant to observe the audacity of the defendants’ assertions. As a result of their termination of maintenance and cure, Aggarao has essentially become a ward of the State of Maryland, dependent on its taxpayers and charities for his survival. If Aggarao is correct that MOL and World Car have breached their obligations to provide maintenance and cure, they ignore his request at their peril. We reiterate that ”[t]he obligation to pay maintenance and cure arises under maritime law whenever the seaman is injured, regardless of any negligence or fault on the part of the owner or employer.”
Martin,
. Although Aggarao's situation is unique, this Court confronted similar circumstances more than fifty years ago in
Ieronimakis v. Spence,
. Aggarao informs us that he "has been hospitalized for the past 16 months with a chronic staph infection, which has infected the bones of his spine with osteomyelitis, which the physicians have been unable to cure.” Reply Br. of Appellant 21. He has moved for leave to supplement the record on appeal with medical records detailing his medical history since this appeal was initiated. Because the district court will assess his injunction request in the first instance, we are satisfied to deny Aggarao’s motion to supplement the record.
. If the court authorizes Aggarao to remain in the United States during the arbitration proceedings, the parties may make arrangements for him to remotely participate therein.
. The Eleventh Circuit suggests that, even when "a zero-dollar arbitral award is entered,” a plaintiff should be able to interpose the public policy defense when the defendant moves to enforce the award in federal court, or after the plaintiff initiates a "separate action under federal law” in
any
district court.
Lindo,