Erazo v. M/V Ciudad De Neiva, Admiralty No. 4912.

• Decision Date: 10 January 1967
• Docket Number: Admiralty No. 4912.
• Citation: 270 F. Supp. 211
• Parties: Ramon ERAZO v. M/V CIUDAD DE NEIVA and Flota Mercante Grancolumbiana, S. A., a body corporate.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

270 F. Supp. 211

Ramon ERAZO v. M/V CIUDAD DE NEIVA and Flota Mercante Grancolumbiana, S. A., a body corporate.

Admiralty No. 4912.

United States District Court D. Maryland.

January 10, 1967.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Sol C. Berenholtz, Solomon Kaplan and David P. Bernstein, Baltimore, Md., for libelant.

Robert H. Williams, Jr., Donald A. Krach and Niles, Barton, Gans & Markell, Baltimore, Md., for respondent.

THOMSEN, Chief Judge.

Respondent has moved that the Court decline to exercise jurisdiction over this suit brought by libelant to recover for serious injuries sustained as the result of an explosion and fire aboard the M/V Ciudad De Neiva while she was leaving the Port of Baltimore. Respondent contends that Colombia is the proper forum.

It is undisputed that libelant is a citizen of Colombia, that respondent owner of the vessel is a Colombian corporation, that the vessel flies the Colombian flag, and that libelant signed on the vessel in Cartagena, Colombia. On the other hand, it is undisputed that the explosion and fire which caused the injury occurred in the territorial waters of the United States, that the incident was investigated by the Coast Guard and the Baltimore Fire Department, that extensive repairs were made to the vessel at a yard in Baltimore, that libelant was hospitalized for about a year at the United States Public Health Service Hospital in Baltimore, and that substantial efforts have been expended by Baltimore counsel on behalf of libelant in the investigation of material facts and at repeated hearings involving libelant's right to receive treatment and surgery in the United States.¹

It is agreed that the law applicable to the claims alleged in the libel is the Labor Law of Colombia. See Lauritzen v. Larsen, 345 U.S. 571, 73 S.Ct. 921, 97 L.Ed. 1254 (1953), and Romero v. International Terminal Operating Co., 358 U.S. 354, 79 S.Ct. 468, 3 L.Ed.2d 368 (1959). It is further agreed that the Labor Law of Colombia provides cash benefits akin to workmen's compensation payments, and if there is sufficient evidence that the industrial accident arose through the employer's negligence the employer is liable for ordinary damages, against which the compensation benefits must be credited. It is clear, therefore, that the principal issue between libelant and respondent employer, wherever the case may be heard, will be whether the injury to libelant was caused by respondent's negligence.

It is also clear that this Court has jurisdiction to hear and determine the case, although "it is ordinarily within the discretion of the District Court to refuse to retain jurisdiction * * *." Canada Malting Co. v. Paterson Steamships, 285 U.S. 413, 52 S.Ct. 413, 76 L.Ed. 837 (1932).

The criteria to be considered by this Court in deciding whether or not it should exercise its jurisdiction are discussed in Lauritzen v. Larsen, supra, The Fletero v. Arias, 4 Cir., 206 F.2d 267 (1953), and Mpampouros v. S.S. Auromar, D.Md., 203 F.Supp. 944 (1962). As was stated in Anastasiadis v. S.S. Little John, 5 Cir., 346 F.2d 281, 283 (1965):

"* * * The real issue in Lauritzen * * * was choice of law, not the discretionary assumption of jurisdiction, but it seems generally agreed that the criteria set out in that opinion serve as an appropriate yard-stick for a district court in deciding whether the United States courts should accept or decline jurisdiction of a controversy which is essentially foreign."

See also Romero v. International Terminal Operating Co., 358 U.S. 354, 382, 79 S.Ct. 468, 3 L.Ed.2d 368 (1959).

In addition to the applicable law, the domicile of the parties, and the place of the contract of employment, questions of comity, convenience, and the practical possibility of libelant being able to enforce any rights he may have, should also be considered. This Court has ordinarily refused to retain jurisdiction where the law of a foreign country applied and both parties were citizens of that country, absent a showing that this was the only forum in which the libelant's rights could be fully protected.

In the instant case the alleged negligence is based upon conditions in the engine room before the explosion and fire. Adequate investigation of the facts will require an examination of various records of the Coast Guard and the Baltimore Fire Department, as well as of the repair yard in Baltimore where the allegedly defective equipment was removed. Many, if not all, of the witnesses who may have knowledge or opinions favorable to libelant are located in the Baltimore area; it would be impossible for libelant to take them to Colombia, and practically impossible financially for him to take their depositions, as well as the depositions of the doctors familiar with libelant's condition, treatment and operations after the accident. Counsel are agreed that libelant could retain an attorney on a contingent basis in Cartagena, and that a Labor Court as well as a Civil Court sits there. There is some question whether the contract of employment, quoted in note 2² in the margin, might require libelant's claim to be presented and heard in Bogota, 400 miles from Cartagena by air. Even if the case can be heard in Cartagena, the expenses of investigation in Baltimore and of proving any favorable facts which may...