Houston Barge Line, Inc. v. American Commercial Lines
| Decision Date | 08 June 1976 |
| Docket Number | No. GC 73-99,74-56-K.,GC 73-99 |
| Citation | 416 F. Supp. 417 |
| Parties | HOUSTON BARGE LINE, INC., Plaintiff, v. AMERICAN COMMERCIAL LINES, et al., Defendants. AMERICAN COMMERCIAL LINES, INC., et al., Plaintiffs, v. HOUSTON BARGE LINE, INC., et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Mississippi |
Clayton J. Swank, III, and Ernest Lane, Greenville, Miss., for Houston Barge Line.
Douglas C. Wynn, Greenville, Miss., Robert B. Acomb, New Orleans, La., for American Commercial Lines and Inland Tugs Co.
On February 13, 1973, at 2:45 p. m., with a visibility of at least 4 miles in a stretch of navigable water in the lower Mississippi River ¾ths of a mile wide, a near head-on collision occurred between the tows of ascending and descending towing vessels being operated by experienced, veteran Mississippi river pilots. Readily agreeing there was navigational error, each pilot seeks to cast blame upon the other, but we are compelled to hold that neither is free of major contributing fault. Quite incredibly, an unusually wide navigable channel was a special condition for the casualty resulting in property damage to both tows.1
The M/V WILBUR MILLS, a vessel with 8400 h. p., towing 31 loaded barges, was proceeding downriver, or southwardly, just above Willow Point Lower Light at Mile 462.7, with Captain Martin "Jake" Hughes at the helm. The overall length of the tow, including the WILBUR MILLS, was 1165 feet; and at its widest point the tow was 245 feet wide. Barges were made up five square, spiked with two starboard strings of four and two barges. The tow moved down stream, with throttle setting full ahead, at a speed of 14 mph; the river current was flowing at approximately 4½ mph. The M/V BEN McCOOL, with 3000 h. p., and Captain Ben Schoolfield at the controls, was pushing upstream a unit tow of four loaded oil barges, in the vicinity of Belle Island Corner Light at Mile 458.6. The tow of the BEN McCOOL, including the vessel, was 1160 feet long and, uniformly, of one-barge width. The first sighting by both pilots occurred when the vessels were in the stated locations; i. e., the WILBUR MILLS was mid-river just above Willow Point Lower Light and the BEN McCOOL was just below Belle Island Corner Light steering close to the Mississippi or right ascending shore. The collision occurred in a bend of the river, at Mile 461 in the vicinity of Terrapin Light, approximately 1200 feet out from the Mississippi shore and almost twice that distance from the Louisiana shore. See Appendix "A", official river map.
In low water, the navigable channel in this area extended no more than 800 feet from the Mississippi shore. A sandbar approximately one mile long formed the western edge of the official channel, and was marked by three black buoys placed by the United States Coast Guard at the eastern edges of the bar. The buoys were positioned almost vertically about one-third of a mile from each other, one buoy being located near the south end of the bar, one in the middle and another at the north end. When the sandbar is exposed, the usual and customary practice is for the pilot of the ascending vessel to hold up at or below Belle Island Corner Light to allow the descending vessel to navigate the bend within the buoyed channel, or near the left descending bank. The sailing line as established by the U. S. Coast Guard, crosses the river from Louisiana to near the left descending (or Mississippi) bank at Willow Point Lower Light (462.7), and runs southerly around the bend on a course near the Mississippi shore until Belle Island Corner Light is passed.
On the day of the collision, however, highwater conditions prevailed with 38 feet on the Vicksburg gauge; this covered the entire sandbar with 26 feet of water, and rendered navigable almost the entire distance between the Mississippi and the Louisiana banks. With these conditions, two tows with the power and dimensions of the WILBUR MILLS and BEN McCOOL, passing in opposite directions, could safely navigate the widened river.
The testimony of the two pilots, each of whom is substantially uncorroborated, is in sharp conflict as to what did occur. Captain Schoolfield testified that upon his sighting the WILBUR MILLS, he intended to ferry out from the Mississippi shore at Belle Island Light, proceed over the slack water of the inundated bar on a course "outside", or westerly, of the buoy line, somewhat favoring the Louisiana shore and make a starboard-to-starboard passing of the WILBUR MILLS, which he assumed would descend "inside" or within the buoyed channel. On the other hand, Captain Hughes' intention was quite different, for he testified that upon first observing the BEN McCOOL he perceived it was ascending inside the buoyed channel in such manner that he, Hughes, had ample room for a port-to-port passage by taking his tow over the northern end of the sandbar headed to a point on the Louisiana shore. Since neither pilot intended to remain within the buoyed channel, the tows were set on a course fraught with danger.
Hughes testified that, when first sighted, the BEN McCOOL was driving upstream near the Mississippi shore well past Belle Island Corner Light, on a course clearly inside the buoyed channel (Ex. P-2, Hughes, Point A); that he, Hughes, steered full ahead, with a point fixed on the Louisiana shore; that hearing no signal from BEN McCOOL, and when the heads of the tows were more than one-half mile apart, he gave a one-whistle signal, for a port-to-port passing (Ex. P-2, Hughes, Point B); that he did not hear the BEN McCOOL respond, or see its whistle light; that Hughes did not repeat the one-whistle signal; that neither pilot established radio communication, and hence no passing agreement was reached; that the WILBUR MILLS and its tow remained on a course nearly parallel to and about 300 feet on the outside, or westerly, of the buoy line, the northernmost buoy being passed on the tow's port side; that the WILBUR MILLS held straight rudder, full ahead, until Hughes observed the BEN McCOOL, when the head of its tow passed the middle buoy, suddenly turn to port. Hughes said this occurred when the heads of the two tows were not more than 1200 feet apart, and he then radioed to BEN McCOOL asking if there was mechanical trouble; and upon receiving a negative reply, Hughes requested the BEN McCOOL to go the other way and get out of his way, to which Schoolfield replied that it was too late. It was Hughes' testimony that at this point he sounded the danger signal of four whistles, brought his engines to full stop and began reversing, but to no avail; and, in his view, the collision occurred while the WILBUR MILLS and its tow were on a straight heading, parallel to the contour of the river and the buoy line, and the BEN McCOOL and its tow were swinging to port; and the two tows came together at a sharp angle, of about 45°, as the lead barge of the BEN McCOOL struck the second barge on the outer, port string of the WILBUR MILLS (Ex. P-1, Hughes, Point C).
In highly divergent testimony, Schoolfield stated that as he passed Belle Island Corner Light, he saw the WILBUR MILLS upriver four miles distant, and in mid-river as if positioned to run inside the official channel (Ex. P-2, Schoolfield, Point A); that he ferried the BEN McCOOL tow out from the Mississippi shore, approached the southernmost buoy, a "diver", but passed it on the inside (or easterly) to avoid any chance of getting it caught "in my wheels"; that upon passing the first buoy he immediately turned to port to navigate slack water covering the sandbar; that he gave a two-whistle signal for a starboard-to-starboard passing when the two tows were about a mile apart (Ex. P-1, Schoolfield, Point B); that he heard no signal in response from the WILBUR MILLS nor did he see a whistle light; that he did not repeat the two-whistle signal, nor did he open radio communication with the WILBUR MILLS, or agree upon a passing. Instead, Schoolfield said that he steered a course somewhat favoring the Louisiana shore, and well outside the two upper buoys, moving ahead at 5½ mph. He stated that he assumed the WILBUR MILLS, though the head of its tow was angling toward the Louisiana shore to counteract the eastward "set" in the bend of the river, would nevertheless "pull down and give port rudder to straighten up down the channel," and navigate east of the buoyed line. This assumption was an utter miscalculation for the WILBUR MILLS was driving forward at full throttle; and when Schoolfield did realize that the WILBUR MILLS and its tow were proceeding mid-river as if in a slide across his bow, he stopped his engines and commenced backing. Schoolfield conceded that he failed to sound a danger signal, and his first and only radio contact with the WILBUR MILLS was when Hughes called to tell him not to come his way. According to Schoolfield, the forward speed of the BEN McCOOL and its tow had almost halted at the moment of impact; the BEN McCOOL was falling off; that the head of its tow was swinging to starboard, not to port, and the port side of his lead barge struck the port side of the second barge on the outer string of the WILBUR MILLS at approximately a 50° angle (Ex. P-1, Schoolfield, Point C); that the BEN McCOOL lead barge with its high rake climbed over a WILBUR MILLS barge; that five barges in the WILBUR MILLS tow broke loose as the two tows came alongside port-to-port. One of the loosened barges was impaled by, and lay at, the head of the BEN McCOOL tow, three barges drifted port-to-port alongside the BEN McCOOL tow and were secured by deckhands of the BEN McCOOL with grass lines. The remaining loosened barge sank a short distance outside and north of the southernmost buoy.
Hughes and Schoolfield agree that the collision occurred approximately 300 feet west of the buoy line, that they, hearing no signal from the other, gave cross signals, and failed to reach a...
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