Gulf Coast Trawlers, Inc. v. Resolute Insurance Company, 64-B-1.
| Decision Date | 19 March 1965 |
| Docket Number | No. 64-B-1.,64-B-1. |
| Parties | GULF COAST TRAWLERS, INC., Libellant, v. RESOLUTE INSURANCE COMPANY et al., Respondents. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Texas |
Cox & Wilson and Tom Clendenin, Jr., Brownsville, Tex., for libellant.
Cunningham, Yznaga & Duncan and David Duncan, Brownsville, Tex., for respondents.
This is an action brought by a shipowner against the insurer to recover for loss of his shrimping vessel, the O/S JOYCE MARIE which was insured under an American Institute Time Hull Policy containing an Inchmaree clause.
Libellant alleges that the O/S JOYCE MARIE was lost on a fishing voyage in the Gulf of Mexico on November 5, 1963, and that at the time of such loss said vessel was in all respects seaworthy and said loss was a result of the perils insured against.
Respondents Resolute Insurance Company and Lloyd's Underwriters and/or Institute of London Companies contend, on the other hand, that the vessel at the time of the loss was unseaworthy because of the fact that it only had on board a 2-man crew including the captain, and that it had a defective, improperly maintained or repaired clutch, rendering the said vessel unseaworthy; and that the sinking of the vessel was contributed to or proximately caused by such unseaworthy conditions. Respondents also strongly hint that the O/S JOYCE MARIE was intentionally sunk by the owner or those in privity with said owner.
The Court heard evidence for two days, and then the parties were allowed to present briefs, which they have done.
From the facts before me, I find that Gulf Coast Trawlers, Inc., was the owner of the O/S JOYCE MARIE, Official No. 253,878; and that James Earl Wade is President and Managing Agent of Gulf Coast Trawlers, Inc., which not only operated the O/S JOYCE MARIE, but other similar shrimping vessels.
Respondents Resolute Insurance Company and Lloyd's Underwriters and/or Institute of London Companies insured the owner of the O/S JOYCE MARIE against certain risks enumerated in Policy No. JP26263A, and there is no dispute about the identity of the policy, that premiums had been paid, that the sinking occurred during the policy period, or that the Court has jurisdiction and venue over the parties and the subject-matter.
The O/S JOYCE MARIE left its berth at the Port of Brownsville Shrimp Basin the day before it sank, and James Earl Wade saw it leave. The JOYCE MARIE had been having trouble with a defective clutch which had been "slipping," but the same had been repaired before it left the Port of Brownsville. On the way out to the fishing grounds, the captain noted that the clutch was still giving them trouble, and he put in to port at Port Mansfield near Raymondville, Texas, some 30 to 40 miles up the coast from Brownsville, and the captain proceeded to call the owner's President and Managing Agent, James Earl Wade, who proceeded to Port Mansfield, and who testified that he adjusted the clutch linkage and repaired what had been causing the trouble.
The JOYCE MARIE then left Port Mansfield and went out to the fishing grounds, and when they were about three hours away from Port Mansfield, she rendezvoused with the O/S LADY MEL, another boat owned by Libellant, tied a line to the stern of the O/S LADY MEL which was at anchor, inspected and secured the vessel, and the captain and the rigman, the only two men on board the ship, went to sleep shortly before noon and slept until 5:30 to 6:00 p. m., when Captain Elmo B. Spencer awakened to find water at the stern deck and the engine room flooded. The 2-man crew of the O/S LADY MEL also had been asleep and awoke after Captain Spencer called them. The O/S JOYCE MARIE had on board in good working order at the time she allegedly sank, four pumps, one pump purchased new on September 13, 1963, and three additional pumps that had been overhauled and rebuilt since the United States Coast Guard had dropped a pump to her in September, 1963.
Captain Spencer testified that the O/S JOYCE MARIE sank in an upright position after he and his other crewman had abandoned it because it was impossible to save it.
A surveyor for Respondents testified that he found no trace of the O/S JOYCE MARIE, not even an oil slick.
It was also brought out during the trial that while the O/S JOYCE MARIE was on its way out of Port Mansfield, it hit or "rubbed...
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