COMPLAINT OF SHEEN

• Decision Date: 24 February 1989
• Docket Number: No. 87-10052-Civ.,87-10052-Civ.
• Citation: 709 F. Supp. 1123
• Parties: In the Matter of the Complaint of Sidney Michael SHEEN as Owner of the YACHT MLANJE for Exoneration From or Limitation of Liability.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Florida

709 F. Supp. 1123

In the Matter of the Complaint of Sidney Michael SHEEN as Owner of the YACHT MLANJE for Exoneration From or Limitation of Liability.

No. 87-10052-Civ.

United States District Court, S.D. Florida, Miami Division.

February 24, 1989.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Mark R. Houck, Fowler White, Miami, Fla., for plaintiff.

Ben J. Weaver, Weaver, Weaver, Lardin and Petrie, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for defendant.

FINDINGS OF FACTS, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW AND FINAL JUDGMENT

JAMES LAWRENCE KING, Chief Judge.

This action arises from a maritime accident that occurred on January 31, 1987 in Key West Harbor, Key West, Florida. On a relatively clear day with a stiff wind blowing the pleasure yacht MLANJE, while in the process of being towed to sea, collided with the ketch WINDSTAR. Dr. Maxwell Simpkin, a guest aboard the WINDSTAR, injured his left ring finger when he attempted to prevent this accident.

On July 31, 1987, the MLANJE's owner, Dr. Sidney Michael Sheen, filed a complaint seeking exoneration from or limitation of liability pursuant to the Limitation of Liability Act, 46 U.S.C.App. sections 181-189 (1982) (hereinafter cited as the "Limitation Act"). The Limitation Act allows a court to exonerate a vessel's owner from liability for all claims arising from the maritime accident or limit that owner's accountability for such claims to the vessel's value. 46 U.S.C.App. section 183 (1982).

Because Dr. Sheen filed both a timely complaint and an ad interim stipulation for value that the court approved, the court enjoined all pending and future proceedings against the MLANJE'S owner arising from this accident. 46 U.S.C.App. section 185 (1982). The court also issued a monition to all potential claimants that ordered them to answer the complaint for exoneration/limitation on or before November 15, 1987. The court also ordered the complainant to publish the monition.

On November 17, 1987, the claimant Dr. Maxwell Simpkin answered the complaint. He prayed for the denial of both exoneration and limitation, and demanded damages for his injuries.¹

After denying motions for summary judgment and for a lift of the injunction, the court decided to bifurcate the trial of this cause.² Pursuant to this decision, this court was to determine at a non-jury trial whether Dr. Sheen was entitled to the protections of the Limitation Act. Once this determination was made, the court would lift its stay and the claimant could pursue his remedies in another court.³

The court has conducted the non-jury trial pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 38(e), and finds that Dr. Sheen is entitled to have his liability limited. In accordance with Fed.R. Civ.P. 52, the court now enters its findings of facts and conclusions of law.

FINDINGS OF FACT

The offending vessel in this maritime accident is the MLANJE. The MLANJE is a 41-foot Morgan sloop that has a gross weight of 27,000 lbs. At the time of the accident, the owner of the MLANJE was Dr. Sidney Michael Sheen. Her captain was Benjamin C. Grehan. Dr. Sheen is a resident of Summit, Mississippi and Captain Grehan is a resident of Miami, Florida.

The non-offending vessel is the WINDSTAR. The WINDSTAR is a 40-foot ketch. When this incident occurred, Richard Coolidge was the owner and captain of the WINDSTAR. The claimant, Dr. Maxwell Simpkin, was aboard the WINDSTAR at the time of the offense. Dr. Simpkin is a resident of Long Island, New York, and Captain Coolidge is a resident of Marathon, Florida.

In May 1982, the complainant purchased the offending vessel for $136,447. Dr. Sheen sold the vessel on June 26, 1987 for $63,900. At the time of the accident, Dr. Sheen insured the MLANJE for $100,000. He signed this insurance contract in September, 1986. Claimant's Exhibit 2.

Since September, 1986, Florida Yacht Charters and Sales, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as "Florida Yacht") operated the MLANJE pursuant to a charter management agreement with Dr. Sheen. Credible testimony revealed that Dr. Sheen decided to retain Florida Yacht after conducting a reasonable inquiry into various yacht charters as well as the particular competency and professionalism of Florida Yacht. As the charter agreement (complainant's exhibit 6) and Florida Yacht's monthly statements (complainant's exhibits 7, 9, 11, 17, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 39) indicate, Dr. Sheen established a detailed inspection system for the MLANJE. Dr. Sheen also generally instructed Florida Yacht to arrange for the chartering of the MLANJE. Dr. Sheen received the charter income, less expenses and commissions.

January 31, 1987 began with the MLANJE berthed in the Lands End Marina between two sailboats, the WINDSTAR and an unknown vessel. The MLANJE docked in this marina because her charterers experienced a failed transmission. The charterers informed Florida Yacht of the problem, and Florida Yacht dispatched Captain Benjamin C. Grehan, an independent captain, and crew member Susan Beatty to bring the MLANJE back to Miami.

After climbing aboard, Captain Grehan decided to have the MLANJE towed out to sea, from where he could continue the journey back to Miami under the MLANJE's own sail power. Although several professional towing companies were available to perform this task, Captain Grehan accosted an unidentified white male, who offered to tow the "MLANJE" out of the harbor. This person was the captain of a small power boat with an outboard motor.

Before initiating the tow, an unknown crew member on the WINDSTAR suggested that the task would be easier if the MLANJE were turned around. This person proposed that the MLANJE be turned around by securing its anchor rope to a shrimping boat across the harbor and then winching her bow around.

Captain Grehan then turned the MLANJE around in this manner. This procedure resulted in the MLANJE becoming rafted to the shrimp boat some 150 yards upwind from the WINDSTAR. The wind on this day was often substantially gusty.

The tow boat then attached a line from her stern to the bow of the MLANJE. This action was contrary to regular towing procedure that governs a smaller vessel's towing of a larger boat. The ropes leading from the MLANJE to both the shrimping boat and the tow boat were slack.

In the meanwhile, Captain Coolidge decided to move the WINDSTAR into part of the MLANJE's previous berth in order to make the WINDSTAR easier to debark. Captain Coolidge solicited Dr. Simpkin's assistance, who remained dockside to hold the WINDSTAR's lines. These men moved the WINDSTAR approximately ten to twelve feet, nearly the complete distance desired, when Dr. Simpkin noticed the MLANJE approaching.

With Captain Grehan and his crew mate aboard, the MLANJE had started to drift slightly downwind. Captain Grehan did not fire up the MLANJE's engines even though the broken transmission still gave the vessel power in reverse. Testimony revealed that normal towing procedure required the MLANJE's engine to be turned on. He, instead, relied upon the tow boat's small outboard, which the towboat hastily started. As the MLANJE's downwind drift quickened, the tow boat's attempt to change the MLANJE's position by beginning the towing process.

The tow boat's efforts were thoroughly ineffective. The MLANJE continued to drift downwind at approximately one mile per hour. She started to turn about again, slowly bringing her port side to the land's edge.

After becoming attracted to the plight of the MLANJE, Dr. Simpkin noticed the MLANJE's crew waving and shouting. He moved from the dock, where he was assisting Captain Coolidge in moving the WINDSTAR, to the WINDSTAR's port side deck near the bow. Contrary to standard and regular maritime custom, Dr. Simpkin then attempted to push the 27,000 lb. MLANJE away from the WINDSTAR with his bare hands. Susan Beatty called out for the doctor to move so she could place a fender, which she had in her hands, between the vessels. Simpkin did not move. The MLANJE's bow near her port side impacted with the WINDSTAR's port side. Dr. Simpkin's left ring finger was crushed and both vessels suffered minimal damage.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

The court has jurisdiction over this controversy pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1333(1) (1982). Pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 9(h), the complainant identified his claim as one in admiralty arising under 46 U.S.C.App. § 183 (1982), and sufficiently set forth facts supporting a limitation in accordance with the Supplemental Rule F(2) to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for Admiralty Cases.

As a preliminary matter, the court determines that a former owner of a vessel can petition for limitation. Dr. Sheen sold the MLANJE on June 26, 1987, approximately one month before he filed this complaint. In Corrao v. M/V Act III, 359 F.Supp. 1160 (S.D.Fla.1973), a former owner of a vessel was allowed to petition for limitation. Corrao rests upon sound reasoning, for the appropriate time of ownership for Limitation Act purposes must be the period encompassing the maritime accident.⁴

As in all Limitation Act proceedings where both exoneration and limitation are sought, the first inquiry is whether the ship or its owners are liable. See Providence and New York S.S. Co. v. Hill Manufacturing Co., 109 U.S. 578, 595, 3 S.Ct. 379, 390, 27 L.Ed. 1038 (1883); Hartford Accident and Indemnity Co. v. Southern Pacific Co., 273 U.S. 207, 215, 47 S.Ct. 357, 359, 71 L.Ed. 612 (1927). Liability exists if negligence or conditions of unseaworthiness caused the accident. In Re Complaint of Hercules Carriers, Inc., 768 F.2d 1558, 1563-64 (11th Cir.1985). If negligence or unseaworthiness is not found, the petitioner is entitled to a decree of exoneration. In Re Petition of Trawler Snoopy, Inc., 268 F.Supp. 951, 953 (D.Me. 1967) (citing The 84-H, 296 F. 427, 431 (2d Cir.1923)). If negligence or unseaworthiness is found, the court must then determine if the owners are entitled to a limitation of liability. See Providence and New York S.S. Co., 109 U.S. at 595, 3 S.Ct. at 390 (1883). The court's inquisition...