Moran Towing & Transportation Co. v. United States
| Decision Date | 09 May 1961 |
| Docket Number | No. 26667.,26667. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
| Parties | MORAN TOWING & TRANSPORTATION CO., Inc., South American Towing Corp. and Moran Towing Corp., Libellants-Appellants, v. UNITED STATES of America, Respondent-Appellee. |
Eugene Underwood, New York City (John S. Rogers and Burlingham, Hupper & Kennedy, New York City, on the brief), for libellants-appellants.
Louis E. Greco, Atty. in Charge, Admiralty and Shipping Section, Dept. of Justice, New York City (Morton S. Robson, U. S. Atty. for Southern Dist. New York, New York City, on the brief), for respondent-appellee.
Before CLARK, MEDINA and FRIENDLY, Circuit Judges.
We have before us a motion by the United States to dismiss an appeal from an order of Judge Cashin, in admiralty, granting a stay pending the determination of certain questions of fact pursuant to a Disputes Clause in a maritime contract and denying a motion by libellants to overrule exceptive allegations. We shall give only a brief description of the libel, the exceptions thereto and the contentions of the parties as these are set forth in some detail in Judge Cashin's opinion, reported at 192 F.Supp. 855.
The various issues have their origin in a maritime contract between Moran Towing and Transportation Co., Inc. and the United States for the towage of a certain 100-ton crane barge BD 6074 from Charleston, South Carolina, to a French-Atlantic port to be named by appellee. While proceeding on this voyage and on the afternoon of August 9, 1957, the barge broke adrift. The French trawler Pierre et Laurent rendered certain assistance and, finally, the barge, in tow from the tug Edmond J. Moran, and accompanied by the tug Joseph H. Moran II and the Pierre et Laurent, made port at St. Nazaire, France.
The upshot of all this was a suit in a French court against Moran by the owner of the Pierre et Laurent for salvage assistance, damage claimed to have been sustained by the Pierre et Laurent and miscellaneous additional damages.
The libel herein sought indemnity from appellee for the amount of the judgment rendered in the French court against Moran on the theory that the breaking away of the barge was due to the fault of the United States and in breach of the terms of the contract of towage. It is alleged that appellee equipped the barge with certain padeyes and shackles to which the bridles and towline were to be attached, that appellee fitted the shackles into the padeyes and "supervised and directed the make-up of the tow and in accordance with its appellee's directions the bridles and towline furnished by said tug were connected to the shackles and padeyes fitted to the barge by" appellee. It is further alleged that the bridles and towline remained intact and that the giving way of the improper and inadequate shackles and padeyes caused the barge to break loose. All these allegations or most of them are put in issue by the appellee's exceptive allegations.
The clauses of the contract relied upon by libellants are:
The contract also contained the following Disputes Clause:
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