Granite Chemical Corp. v. Northeast Coal & Dock Corp.
| Decision Date | 18 January 1966 |
| Docket Number | No. 247.,247. |
| Citation | 249 F. Supp. 597 |
| Parties | GRANITE CHEMICAL CORPORATION, also known as Granite Chemical Company, a corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of Massachusetts, Libellant, v. NORTHEAST COAL & DOCK CORPORATION, a Maine Corporation, and Kali-Transport Gesellschaft M.B.H. and Schulte & Bruns, both of the Federal Republic of Germany, Respondents. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Maine |
C. Daniel Ward, Portland, Me., for libellant.
Benjamin Thompson, Thomas R. McNaboe, Portland, Me., Albert C. Blanchard, Bangor, Me., for respondents.
This is a libel in personam to recover for damage to a cargo of saltcake which was shipped from Bremen, Germany, to Bucksport, Maine, in March 1964 aboard the SS ELISABETH SCHULTE, a vessel owned by respondent Schulte & Bruns and under charter to respondent Kali-Transport Gesellschaft M.B.H. The libel was filed on June 30, 1965. On July 1, 1965, a Deputy United States Marshal attempted service upon Schulte & Bruns by serving a citation with a copy of the libel upon Chase, Leavitt & Co., a general steamship agency in Portland, Maine. Schulte & Bruns has filed a special appearance and motion to quash the service on the ground that it is a foreign corporation and at the time of service was doing no business in the State of Maine and had no agent in this state upon whom service could be made.
From the record and uncontroverted affidavit submitted in support of the motion, it appears that Schulte & Bruns is a corporation organized under the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany, with its principal place of business at Hamburg, Germany. It maintains no office, has no employees, and owns no property, bank account or other assets, within the State of Maine. It has not solicited, transacted or obtained any freight or passenger business in Maine, and has never designated any agent upon whom service of process may be had in Maine. In the last five years the only vessel owned or operated by Schulte & Bruns which has visited a Maine port was the SS ELISABETH SCHULTE in March 1964. By the charter party covering the shipment of saltcake involved in this litigation, Chase, Leavitt & Co. was designated by the ship's charterer, the respondent Kali, as husbanding agent for the SS ELISABETH SCHULTE for the specific call at the port of Bucksport in March 1964. As such, Chase, Leavitt & Co. arranged for pilots entering and clearing the port and performed other normal husbanding services. Schulte & Bruns has never authorized Chase, Leavitt & Co. to accept service of process on its behalf, and there has never been any agreement, written or otherwise, providing for any continuing agency relationship between Schulte & Bruns and Chase, Leavitt & Co.
From the foregoing recital of the facts, it is clear that on July 1, 1965, when the attempted service was made in this case, there was no agency relationship in existence between Schulte & Bruns and Chase, Leavitt & Co. In July 1965, Chase, Leavitt & Co. was not performing any service of any kind for Schulte & Bruns, its last and only services having been rendered in March 1964. Under such circumstances it is unnecessary to determine whether or not, as libellant contends, service upon a mere husbanding agent is sufficient to bind the owner of a vessel while the agent is actually performing its duties as such. See George H. McFadden & Bros. v. The M/S...
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...Supp. 1325, 1335-36 (D.Mass.1975); Scalise v. Beech Aircraft Corp., 276 F.Supp. 58, 63-64 (E.D.Pa.1967); Granite Chem. Corp. v. Northeast Coal & Dock Corp., 249 F.Supp. 597 (D.Me.1966). While it is not at all clear that plaintiffs intended to serve A.G. at the time they served Express, it w......
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...defendant corporation's agent more than seven months before the complaint was filed was not valid.); Granite Chem. Corp. v. Northeast Coal & Dock Corp., 249 F.Supp. 597, 598 (D.Me.1966) (service on husbanding agent for vessel for the specific port of call in Maine was insufficient to bind f......
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...American Steamship Co., supra, at 126 F.Supp. 665; Grammenos v. Lemos, supra, at 457 F.2d 1073; Cf. Granite Chemical Corp. v. Northeast Coal & Dock Corp., 249 F.Supp. 597, 598 (D.Me.1966).15 See Grammenos v. Lemos, supra, at 457 F.2d 1072.16 See Exhibit C, Appendix at 43-44a.17 See Moncada ......
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