AH BULL STEAMSHIP COMPANY v. The Exanthia, 308

• Decision Date: 15 June 1956
• Docket Number: 23784.,No. 308,Dockets 23783,309,308
• Citation: 234 F.2d 650
• Parties: A. H. BULL STEAMSHIP COMPANY, owner of THE ELIZABETH, Libelant and Cross-Respondent, v. THE EXANTHIA and its owner, American Export Lines, Inc., Respondent and Cross-Libelant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

234 F.2d 650 (1956)

A. H. BULL STEAMSHIP COMPANY, owner of THE ELIZABETH, Libelant and Cross-Respondent, v. THE EXANTHIA and its owner, American Export Lines, Inc., Respondent and Cross-Libelant.

Nos. 308, 309, Dockets 23783, 23784.

United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit.

Argued May 8, 1956.

Decided June 15, 1956.

A. V. Cherbonnier, New York City (Satterlee, Brown & Cherbonnier, New York City, and Edward R. Downing and William P. Hepburn, New York City, on the brief), for libelant and cross-respondent.

James M. Estabrook, New York City (Haight, Gardner, Poor & Havens, Kenneth Gardner, and Walter A. Darby, Jr., New York City, on the brief), for respondent and cross-libelant.

Bigham, Englar, Jones & Houston, New York City (Richard F. Shaw and Donald M. Waesche, Jr., New York City, of counsel), for intervening cargo petitioners.

Before CLARK, Chief Judge, and FRANK and HINCKS, Circuit Judges.

CLARK, Chief Judge.

This is an appeal and cross-appeal from an interlocutory decree of the district court in admiralty finding both the steamship Elizabeth and the steamship Exanthia at fault in a collision between the two vessels occurring in Delaware Bay, February 16, 1951. The accident took place at 2:05½ a. m. on a clear night with good visibility at a point in a northwesterly direction from Miah Maull Lighthouse.

A few minutes before the collision the Exanthia, a vessel of about 6,000 gross tons, was proceeding north up the Delaware River channel at a speed of about 17½ knots through the water and about 18½ knots over the ground. She was overtaking the Sun Oil Tanker, Southern Sun, which was navigating approximately in mid-channel at a point where the channel was about 900 feet wide. The Exanthia signaled the Southern Sun with two blasts, indicating her intention of passing the latter vessel on her port side. The Southern Sun answered with two blasts. The Exanthia thereupon altered her course to port and proceeded out of the channel, passing buoy No. 19 (which marked the western limit of the channel) about 100 feet to its west.

At that time the navigators of the Exanthia could see the lights of the Elizabeth, which was approaching down the channel from the north at a distance of about seven miles. The navigators of the Elizabeth, a vessel of about 8,000 gross tons, also first observed the Exanthia's lights when the latter vessel was in the vicinity of buoy No. 19.

Judge Walsh found that after passing the Southern Sun the Exanthia did not return as soon as practicable to the channel, but remained outside it to the westward for some undetermined time as the Elizabeth approached. After passing buoy No. 19, the green light of the Exanthia became visible to the Elizabeth, and the Exanthia continued to show only her green light to the Elizabeth at all times thereafter until shortly before the collision. Although the Exanthia made a series of small alterations of course to her right, the time and place of her reentrance into the channel are not precisely known.

When the vessels were about 1½ to 2 miles apart the Elizabeth sounded two blasts on her whistle, and the officer on watch listened for an answer from a position outside the wheelhouse. Hearing none in about half a minute he reported to the pilot, who then blew a second two-blast signal and left the wheel-house for the bridge to listen for an answer. Again not hearing a reply after an interval of about half a minute the pilot signaled two blasts a third time. Immediately thereafter he saw the Exanthia disclose her red side light, and he then reversed his engines to full astern and put his rudder hard left. Before turning to starboard as aforesaid the Exanthia blew a signal of one blast, but the navigators of the Elizabeth did not hear it.

The Exanthia did not hear the first two signals of two blasts sounded by the Elizabeth. The two-blast signal of the Elizabeth which the Exanthia did hear following her own one-blast signal was the third two-blast signal sounded by the Elizabeth; but it was not sounded in answer to the Exanthia's one-blast signal, for that signal was not heard by the Elizabeth. On hearing the final two-blast signal from the Elizabeth at 2:04 a. m., the Exanthia stopped her engines, blew a danger signal, and put her rudder hard right. The Exanthia then went full astern at the master's orders at 2:05, the collision was at 2:05½, and immediately after the collision the engines were stopped. The Exanthia struck the Elizabeth at her No. 1 hatch, causing extensive damage, but no loss of life.

Astern of the Elizabeth at a distance of about two miles and also proceeding down the channel was the tanker Dynafuel.

Judge Walsh found both the Exanthia and the Elizabeth at fault in that both continued to proceed at too high a speed under the circumstances and both delayed too long in stopping their engines. As to the Elizabeth, he found her at fault for violating Article 18 of the Inland Rules, 33 U.S.C. § 203, in that, after blowing her second two-blast signal and not receiving a reply, she kept on at full speed without either stopping her engines or blowing a danger signal of...