American Tobacco Company v. Goulandris
| Decision Date | 19 July 1960 |
| Docket Number | No. 292,Docket 26012.,292 |
| Citation | 281 F.2d 179 |
| Parties | AMERICAN TOBACCO COMPANY, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, and Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company, Libellants-Appellants, v. Basil GOULANDRIS, Nicholas Goulandris, and Leonidas Goulandris, doing business as "Goulandris Brothers," Respondents-Appellees. BANK OF GREECE, Libellant-Appellant, v. Basil GOULANDRIS, Nicholas Goulandris, and Leonidas Goulandris, doing business as "Goulandris Brothers," Respondents-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Henry N. Longley, New York City (John W. R. Zisgen, Owen C. Torrey, Jr. and Bigham, Englar, Jones & Houston, New York City, on the brief), for libellants-appellants.
James E. Freehill, New York City (Hill, Betts & Nash, New York City, on the brief), for respondents-appellees.
Before LUMBARD, Chief Judge, MEDINA, Circuit Judge, and JAMESON, District Judge.*
In this consolidated cause the owners of a large quantity of Turkish and Greek tobacco outturned in a damaged condition at destination, after carriage on board the S.S. "Ioannis P. Goulandris," appeal from a decree of Chief Judge Ryan dismissing all the claims and exonerating the owners of the vessel from any and all liability for such damage. Chief Judge Ryan's opinion is reported at 173 F.Supp. 140.
On October 26, 1940 the "Ioannis P. Goulandris" arrived at Piraeus, Greece, having on board various shipments of tobacco received and stowed at Izmir, Cavalla and Salonika. Everything was in readiness for an anticipated voyage by way of Gibraltar to Newport News, Norfolk and New York. Italy attacked Greece on October 28, 1940, and as the vessel was of Greek registry, she was immediately requisitioned by the Greek Government and sent on a military mission to the Corinth Canal. Upon her return, and in obedience to directions from the Greek Government, she loaded the balance of her Piraeus cargo, and sailed from Piraeus on November 10, 1940 in convoy to Port Said and thereafter followed the orders of the British Admiralty on the long, hot voyage of some 13,- 000 miles through the Suez Canal and around the Cape of Good Hope to her ports of destination.
All the tobacco involved on this appeal was of the 1939 crop and had been purchased from Turkish and Greek planters between January and May, 1940. As the tobacco had been grown on hundreds of small farms, each lot had characteristics different from any of the other lots due to the soil, rainfall and temperature of the locations where it was grown; and the growing season for the 1939 crop had been unusually rainy. The evidence discloses the elaborate procedures customarily adopted to prepare the green tobacco for baling, storage and later manipulation and rebaling. That tobacco had a tendency to heat was well known by all concerned; and the process that culminates in spontaneous ignition starts with a bacteriological development of long duration, during which the heat is evolved slowly, followed by a chemical decomposition, during which the temperature rises rapidly.
As might well have been anticipated, parts of the cargo of tobacco did overheat and the extent of the damage and its location in particular parts of the stow we think clearly demonstrate that the fact that many bales were outturned sound and others so badly overheated as to be of little or no value was due to the different moisture content of the various bales. In No. 3 hold a fire broke out on March 28, 1941, and further damage resulted from the water poured into that hold to extinguish the fire.
The principal contentions of the cargo owners are: that the tobacco was improperly stowed and ventilated, that it was not properly cared for during the voyage; that the damage was due to delays caused by lack of due diligence to remove defects in the condenser and in the tailshaft and in the quality of coal used, all of which are said to have rendered the vessel unseaworthy; that all the cargo was in good order and proper condition for carriage at the time of stowage aboard the vessel; and that the trial judge improperly applied the rule governing burden of proof in cases of inherent vice and also improperly applied the Fire Statute with respect to the damage to the cargo in hold No. 3.
We have examined this massive record with care and are unable to discover any basis for setting aside any of the findings as clearly erroneous. There is little to add to the thorough and detailed exposition in Chief Judge Ryan's excellent opinion of the issues in all their ramifications. The few alleged unwarranted assumptions of fact in the opinion and similar matters relied upon by appellants are of no consequence whatever when considered against the extensive background of testimonial and documentary evidence, especially that of the experts whose testimony the trial judge credited.
Two critical facts lie at the foundation of the decree appealed from. When Italy declared war on Greece the whole picture immediately changed. Not only did the shipowners lose all control of their vessel but they were not even able to communicate with her master because she was sailing under confidential orders and in convoy. Delays of substantial duration were inevitable due to war conditions, and such delays eventuated. The only coal available for bunkering was of the poorest quality, and the preoccupation of shipyards with the demands of the British naval forces greatly increased the time within which necessary repairs could be made. While the methods of manipulation, storage, preparation for shipment and examination before shipment employed by the shippers of the tobacco on the vessel were safe and proper for the transportation of the tobacco to the United States by way of Gibraltar, they were not safe and proper for the long voyage around the Cape of Good Hope, which involved crossing the Equator twice. Accordingly, Chief Judge Ryan made the following findings 173 F.Supp. 140, 157:
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
C. ITOH & CO., ETC. v. Hellenic Lines, Ltd.
...412 F.Supp. 1181, 1183 (S.D.N.Y. 1976). 6 Kupfermann v. United States, 227 F.2d 348, 350 (2d Cir. 1955); accord, American Tobacco Co. v. Goulandris, 281 F.2d 179 (2d Cir. 1960) (tobacco); Hecht, Levis & Kahn, Inc. v. The S.S. President Buchanan, 236 F.2d 627, 631 (2d Cir. 1956) (crude rubbe......
-
EAC Timberlane v. Pisces, Ltd.
...Southern Star, 280 F.Supp. 189 (D.Ore.1967); American Tobacco Company v. Goulandris, 173 F.Supp. 140 (SDNY 1959) aff'd. in part 281 F.2d 179 (2nd Cir.1960); Remington Rand, Inc. v. American Export Lines, 132 F.Supp. 129 (SDNY On the other hand, the evidence showed that the only possibilitie......
-
Asbestos Corp. Ltd. v. COMPAGNIE DE NAVIGATION, ETC.
...U.S. 420, 53 S.Ct. 200, 77 L.Ed. 403 (1932); American Tobacco Co. v. Goulandris, 173 F. Supp. 140, 178-179 (S.D.N.Y.1959), aff'd, 281 F.2d 179 (2d Cir. 1959). It is well established in Admiralty that a carrier must use reasonable precaution to protect cargo from any type of damage. The Sout......
-
Master Shipping Agency, Inc. v. M. S. Farida
...Co., 274 F.Supp. 884, 891 (D.Md.1967); American Tobacco Co. v. Goulandris, 173 F.Supp. 140, 182 (S.D.N.Y.1959), aff'd in part, 281 F.2d 179 (2d Cir. 1960), modified in part sub nom. Lekas & Drivas, Inc. v. Goulandris, 306 F.2d 426 (2d Cir. 1962). It is then the duty of the ship's master to ......