Alamo Barge Lines, Inc. v. Rim Maritime Co., Ltd.
| Decision Date | 05 November 1984 |
| Docket Number | 83-2871.,Civ. A. No. 83-2861 |
| Citation | 1985 AMC 2540,596 F. Supp. 1026 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Louisiana |
| Parties | ALAMO BARGE LINES, INC. v. RIM MARITIME CO., LTD. et al. RIM MARITIME, K.K. v. ALAMO BARGE LINES, INC., et al. |
COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED
W.J. Larzelere, Jr., New Orleans, La., for Alamo Barge Lines and Marine Equipment Co.
J. Dwight LeBlanc, Jr., New Orleans, La., for Rim Maritime, K.K Gary A. Hemphill, New Orleans, La., for intervenor Teh-Hu Cargocean Management Co.
William W. Westerfield, III, New Orleans, La., for intervenor Marathon Petroleum Co.
Lisa Devereaux Leach, New Orleans, La., for intervenor, Panama Transworld Leasing, SA.
This matter came on for non-jury trial on August 27 and 28, 1984, and after close of evidence, and the filing of post-trial memoranda by the parties, the Court took the matter under submission for further consideration. Now, after review of the record in this matter, the evidence adduced at trial, the memoranda of counsel, and the applicable law, the Court rules as follows.
To the extent that any of the following findings of fact constitute conclusions of law, they are adopted as such, and to the extent that any of the conclusions of law constitute findings of fact, they are so adopted.
From the evidence and stipulations adduced at trial, the Court finds that Plaintiffs, Alamo Barge Lines, Inc. and Marine Equipment Co. (hereinafter "Alamo") are foreign corporations and are the respective operator and owner of the M/V PHILIP ARTHUR and the Barges ALAMO 7, 9, and 10.1
The M/T NORCHEM ("NORCHEM") is a small ocean-going chemical tank ship of conventional design, measuring 350 feet long and 7,339 gross tons. It is of Japanese registry, had a Japanese crew, and is owned by defendant, Rim Maritime, K.K., a Japanese company.
This matter stems from a maritime allision in the Mississippi River in the Baton Rouge area on June 6, 1983. On June 6, 1983, the NORCHEM arrived at the Baton Rouge general anchorage at approximately 0700 on June 6, 1983. Her compulsory pilot, Martin Gould, Jr., brought her to anchor in the upper portion of the Baton Rouge general anchorage, which lies along the west side of the Mississippi River between Miles 225.8 and 227.3, where the river is approximately 1400 feet wide. The NORCHEM was brought to anchor at approximately 0830 and was anchored astern of a 419-foot general cargo ship named ARBOREOUS, and upriver of a small cargo ship named NEPTUNE VOLANS.
The NORCHEM remained in place at anchor for about two hours, but at about 10:30 her captain and officers noted the ship to be dragging anchor downriver2 towards the NEPTUNE VOLANS, anchored downstream. The captain placed the ship's engines ahead to attempt to ease the strain, but the NORCHEM continued to drag. The captain, through charterer's agent, called for a pilot to re-anchor the ship.
The NORCHEM was re-anchored by Pilot Thomas Doyle at 13:12. After the anchors were secured, Pilot Doyle departed the ship (about 14:00). The NORCHEM'S second mate Kenji Ono ("Ono") plotted the new position of the NORCHEM by radar and gyro repeater from the bridge of the ship. Ono marked the location of the ship's bridge by a circled dot on U.S. Department of Commerce Chart No. 11370 ("ONO # 2"). The bow of the NORCHEM extended 80 meters upriver of the circled dot. The vessel remained anchored in this position until struck later by the 690-foot flotilla of the M/V PHILIP ARTHUR.
The ship's new position placed it outside the designated anchorage area for Baton Rouge, Louisiana.3 The designated anchorage is shown on United States Department of Commerce Chart 11370 covering the Mississippi River, New Orleans to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The upriver limit of the General Anchorage at Mile 227.3 is approximately one statute mile below the exit from the forebay of the Port Allen Lock. The NORCHEM'S position placed it less than one-half statute mile from the Port Allen Lock.
On June 6, 1983, the PHILIP ARTHUR pushing her three-barge tow entered the Port Allen Lock, located on the west bank of the river and above the anchored NORCHEM. James Talbert, relief captain of the PHILIP ARTHUR, was in the pilot house. The lock master of the Port Allen Lock told Talbert that the river "was running." He also advised Talbert of the height of the Baton Rouge gauge, 43.7 feet. Talbert had never entered the river from the Port Allen Lock when the river stage was this high and did not know what was the speed of current in the river.4
Later that afternoon, the PHILIP ARTHUR and her three-barge tow were released from the Port Allen Lock and were preparing to enter the river and proceed downriver to the Marathon Petroleum Dock. Before entering the river, Captain Talbert, checked with the United States Coast Guard VTS monitor for vessel traffic in the area and was told that the river was clear of traffic.
Talbert planned to bring the M/V PHILIP ARTHUR and tow out into the river by steering to his left as the tow exited the lock. He then planned to "drive" the tow out away from the west bank (i.e., head toward the east bank) before turning it downriver, so as to pass to the east, or starboard, side of the anchored ships. Talbert, however, did not properly execute this maneuver. Instead, Captain Talbert used a "hard left" rudder immediately after leaving the lock forebay; this caused the tug and tow to lose headway in its attempt to cross the river causing the flotilla to fall down with the current before crossing the river, forcing the flotilla to strike the port anchor chain of the anchored NORCHEM.
After striking the port anchor chain of the NORCHEM, the PHILIP ARTHUR filled with water and heeled to starboard. At 15:23, the remaining wires attaching her to the ALAMO 7 parted, and the tug rolled completely over to starboard and became awash. At this time, the port anchor chain of the NORCHEM, on which the PHILIP ARTHUR was apparently still caught, parted, and the PHILIP ARTHUR sank. The PHILIP ARTHUR has never been recovered.
This striking of the NORCHEM's port anchor chain by the PHILIP ARTHUR flotilla caused the NORCHEM to begin to drag downriver towards the ARBOREOUS. The NORCHEM came against the starboard side of the ARBOREOUS, with the barges ALAMO 9 and ALAMO 7 between these two ships. Minor damage resulted to the ARBOREOUS when the NORCHEM made minor contact with the starboard side of that vessel after dragging her remaining starboard anchor. These barges eventually worked free of the two ships without loss of any of the volatile naptha cargo. The Barge ALAMO 10, either as a result of the initial collision or subsequent collisions with nearby barge fleets, suffered some damage and the loss of approximately 1273 barrels of naptha cargo, which fortunately did not ignite. The anchored NEPTUNE VOLANS was also damaged when struck by these drifting barges.
As a result of the allision, the NORCHEM incurred temporary repairs, anchor replacement costs, and permanent repair costs, as well as loss of vessel use and incidental expenses during the repairs and replacement. The value of these damages has been stipulated to be $107,608. The PHILIP ARTHUR was sunk and is a total loss. The Barge ALAMO 10 sustained $45,000 in damages. The value of the lost cargo, consigned to Marathon Petroleum Company, has been stipulated to be $43,307.80. Panama Transworld Leasing, S.A. and Teh-Hu Cargocean Management Co., Ltd., Hong Kong, respective owners of the NEPTUNE VOLANS and the ARBOREOUS have sustained damages of $25,000 and $2,979 as a result of the accident.
In determining liability for the allision, the Court finds that the pre-allision position of the NORCHEM, outside the General Anchorage, embarrassed the PHILIP ARTHUR's navigation. The same highwater and strong current conditions that presented problems for the NORCHEM in the general anchorage also presented problems for tugs and tows exiting the Port Allen Lock. In light of those conditions, the NORCHEM's mid-channel anchorage, with its extending bow anchor chain, constituted an obstruction to the navigation of river traffic exiting the Port Allen Lock and proceeding downriver. Further, the NORCHEM failed to notify the Port Captain, VTS, and/or personnel at the Port Allen Lock of its position, outside of the designated anchorage for Baton Rouge.
The pre-allision position of the NORCHEM was such that pilot Talbert could not have seen the NORCHEM until he was well out of the forebay of the Port Allen Lock. The Court does not find the testimony of Mr. Frederick Denham to the contrary credible, and notes that no such line of vision appears from an examination of the photos taken from the NORCHEM's bridge during the accident.
Additionally, the Court finds that The 900-horse power PHILIP ARTHUR was underpowered for the task at hand, and could not adequately navigate in the high water and current conditions that existed on the day of the accident. Given those conditions, and the vessel's inadequate power, the PHILIP ARTHUR's captain and/or pilot should have requested and utilized helper boats to enter the river.
Evidence relating to valuation of the PHILIP ARTHUR at the time of its loss indicated that comparable sales of boats similar to the PHILIP ARTHUR sell anywhere from $140,000 to $395,000, with pushboat "for sale" listings ranging from $170,000 to $550,000. The market for pushboats can not accurately be ascertained at the date of the vessel's loss and accordingly, therefore, its valuation must be determined with reference to the additional factors. Relevant to this inquiry are: the sums spent to repair and refit the vessel in 1979 ($349,000) and 1977 ($634,000), as well as the vessel's condition, and the depreciated residual value of the PHILIP ARTHUR on June 6, 1983 ($348,292.71). At the date of the accident, the vessel was insured for $500,000, and...
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