Federal Insurance Company v. The SS Royalton
| Decision Date | 23 May 1961 |
| Docket Number | 19201.,Civ. No. 19891 |
| Citation | 1961 AMC 1777,194 F. Supp. 543 |
| Parties | FEDERAL INSURANCE COMPANY et al., Libelants, v. THE S. S. ROYALTON, her engines, etc. and Scott Misener Steamships, Ltd., Respondents. Christoforos MANOPOULOS et al., Libelants, v. THE S. S. ROYALTON, her engines, etc. and Scott Misener Steamships, Ltd., Respondents. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Michigan |
Dickinson, Wright, Davis, McKean & Cudlip, Detroit, Mich., Bigham, Englar, Jones & Huston, New York City, of counsel, Joseph Kadans, Detroit, Mich., for libelants.
Hill, Lewis, Andrews, Granse & Adams, Detroit, Mich., McMillan, Binch, Stuart, Berry, Dunn, Corrigan & Howland, Toronto, Canada, McCreary, Hinslea & Ray, Cleveland, Ohio, for respondents.
A collision occurred during a dense fog on Lake Huron, on June 25, 1959, between the S. S. Monrovia, registered in Liberia, and the S. S. Royalton, a Canadian ship. The Monrovia sank and these actions thereafter commenced against the Royalton, the one by the injured Greek seamen aboard the Monrovia and the other by the owners, shippers, consignees and underwriters of the cargoes on the Monrovia. The parties have agreed to adjudicate the issue of liability alone in this portion of the proceedings.
Extensive testimony was heard from crew members aboard the Royalton, the S. S. Norman W. Foy, which was following the Royalton at a distance of five miles, and the S. S. Fred A. Mansky, travelling parallel to the Royalton. As usual, conflicting facts were presented. The evidence, however, was incomplete to some degree by the absence of testimony from the crew members of the Monrovia concerning the operation of their ship.
We noted extensive examination, argument and conclusions made as a result of estimates concerning time and distances. Accuracies of time estimates during moments of stress are doubtful at best and should be further discounted in this situation where the argument depends upon estimates varying less than a few minutes. Therefore our findings of fact concerning time will primarily present a sequence of events and will not necessarily be conclusive for purposes of estimating speed and distances, unless absolutely necessary.
The S. S. Monrovia was an Empire type liberty ship, 447 feet 7 inches in length, and 56 feet 2 inches in beam. On June 25, 1959, laden with libelants' cargoes of steel, she was proceeding up Lake Huron during her maiden Great Lakes voyage. Captain Welland, a Canadian pilot, came aboard her at Port Weller, Ontario, but left early that morning at the Port Huron Light Ship outside of Sarnia, at the lower end of Lake Huron. Prior to his departure, Captain Welland advised the master of the Monrovia, which was without the aid of radar, to use the radio-telephone in case of "thick weather", and to follow the up and down bound recommended courses on the lake charts.
The S. S. Royalton is a Great Lakes bulk carrier, 536.5 feet in length, 58.25 feet in breadth and has a depth of 31.2 feet. Her net tonnage is 5,194 tons. On June 25, 1959 the Royalton was enroute from Duluth, Minnesota, to Montreal, laden with a cargo of grain. At 6:15 a. m. she departed from Detour Light at the head of Lake Huron and set her course for Middle Island. When the vessel was abeam of Middle Island, her course was changed to 161 degrees true and the vessel proceeded down Lake Huron toward Sarnia.
At 1145 hours, after encountering limited visibility, the Royalton's engine room was put on "stand by" and fog signals were sounded. At 1305 she was 9.6 miles off Thunder Bay Island, as measured by radar. This meant she was in the zone between the prescribed lanes for upbound and downbound vessels, 1.9 miles to the west of the downbound lane and 5.1 miles to the east of the upbound lane. At this point the Royalton corrected her course 2 degrees to port or left, still proceeding at full speed ahead, approximately 11 miles per hour.
At 1320 a pip or target was spotted on the Royalton's radar at a distance of 13 miles, located 2 degrees on the starboard bow. A 5 degree alteration to port was made at this time. When the target was 10 miles distant, at 1332 hours, it was 12 degrees off starboard bow. The Royalton again altered her course 5 degrees to port.
When the distance of the target closed to 5 miles, at 1340 hours, a fog whistle was heard 30-35 degrees on starboard bow. A security call on the radio-telephone was attempted in order to reach the other ship, which of course was later identified as the Monrovia, but there was no response. Simultaneously, the Royalton's course was altered for the third time to port, by 12 degrees, and the engine was ordered to proceed at "slow speed". A short time thereafter a two-blast signal was sounded by the Royalton to indicate a starboard pass, wherein each ship would pass to the right of the other. Fog signals were placed on automatic and a second security call was made. No response was received to either the passing signal or the security call.
A two-blast signal was again sounded by the Royalton a few minutes after the first. This time a one-blast signal was received from the Monrovia, which is a crossing rather than a passing signal. The Royalton's engine was then ordered full speed astern at 1350 hours and at 1354 was ordered double full astern. Danger signals by the Royalton were blown during this period, although the exact time is not clear.
The Monrovia appeared out of the fog, about 45 degrees on Royalton's starboard and was swinging hard to her right at what appeared to be full-speed ahead. The collision occurred at 1357 hours, while the ships were at an angle of 90 degrees relative to one another. The point of contact was the stem of the Royalton and the port side of the Monrovia, between number 1 and number 2 holds.
The officers and the crew of the Monrovia abandoned ship an hour after the collision. The master and several crew members returned to the sinking vessel shortly afterwards but did not remain long. The Monrovia sank at 12:15 a. m. June 26, 1959, a little more than 10 hours after the collision. In addition to the Royalton, the S. S. Norman W. Foy and the S. S. Fred W. Mansky were standing by the sinking ship.
The only issue presented is whether any faults or errors in the navigation of the Royalton contributed to the collision and the resulting injury to seamen and the loss of cargoes on the Monrovia.
There is no doubt from the above findings that the Monrovia was at fault and that her fault contributed heavily toward the collision. The Monrovia completely disregarded the prescribed upbound lane recommended by the Lake Carriers Association and the Dominion Marine Association, which appear on official charts of Lake Huron. See The Edward E. Loomis, 2 Cir., 1936, 86 F.2d 705. While travelling on her maiden Great Lakes voyage in a dense fog without radar, she didn't utilize her radio. She disregarded a two-blast starboard passing signal and the automatic fog signals of the Royalton by proceeding on a hard right rudder full speed ahead just before the collision. The general rule, which should be followed in this case, is that where fault on the part of one vessel is substantial, evidence of contributing negligence on the part of the other vessel should at least be...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Hellenic Lines, Ltd. v. Prudential Lines, Inc.
...established in The Pennsylvania, 86 U.S. (19 Wall.) 125, 22 L.Ed. 148 (1873) is thus satisfied. See Federal Insurance Company v. The S.S. Royalton, 194 F.Supp. 543, 547 (E.D.Mich.1961), rev'd on other grounds, 312 F.2d 671 (6th Cir.1963). The inclusion in a comparative fault determination o......
-
Federal Insurance Company v. SS ROYALTON, 15570.
...cause, reported as Federal Insurance Co. v. S. S. Royalton, 312 F.2d 671 (C.A.6, 1963). In reversing the judgment of the District Court, 194 F.Supp. 543 we there held that those in charge of the Royalton were guilty of described navigational faults and had failed to establish that such faul......