Martin Marine Transp. Co. v. United States

• Decision Date: 12 April 1946
• Docket Number: No. 131.,131.
• Citation: 66 F. Supp. 673
• Parties: MARTIN MARINE TRANSP. CO. v. UNITED STATES.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Pennsylvania

66 F. Supp. 673

MARTIN MARINE TRANSP. CO. v.UNITED STATES.

No. 131.

District Court, E. D. Pennsylvania.

April 12, 1946.

Rawle & Henderson and Harrison G. Kildare, both of Philadelphia, Pa., for libellant.

Gerald A. Gleeson, U. S. Dist. Atty., E. D. of Pa., of Philadelphia, Pa., and Charles R. Sheidy, Jr., Asst. Dist. Atty., E.D. of Pa., of Reading, Pa., for defendant.

GANEY, District Judge.

This is a suit in admiralty to recover damages to the tug Eureka which resulted from the parting of the mooring lines of the barge Darien which in turn is alleged to have been caused by the excessive swells of a Coast Guard picket boat in the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.

Primarily for disposition is the correctness of a ruling that the respondent was not precluded from offering evidence after its motion at the close of libellant's case had been overruled.The court in The Persiana, D.C.N.Y., 158 F. 912, held: "It has been the uniform practice of this court not to entertain motions to dismiss at the close of libellant's case, unless the claimant or respondent also rests.If the partydefendant considers that any testimony is necessary to overcome that offered by libellant, it should be produced, and the court not asked to dispose of the litigation before all the testimony is submitted."In accordance with this point of view is also Bull v. New York & Porto Rica Steamship Co., 2 Cir., 167 F. 792.

Accordingly, it would seem that the ruling was in keeping with the settled practice in admiralty.

From the testimony submitted the court makes the following findings of fact:

(1) The tug Eureka is a steam tug owned by libellant, Martin Marine Transportation Company.The length of this tug is 128 feet, its beam is 26 feet and its draft is 15.6 feet.At all times prior to the time she suffered damages on May 11, 1944, the Eureka was seaworthy and in good condition.

(2) The Coast Guard picket boat, CG-38614, is a vessel owned by respondent, the United States of America, and is used by members of the United States Coast Guard Service in the performance of their duties.The length of the CG-38614 is 38 feet, its beam is 10 feet and its draft is 3 feet.

(3) The barge Darien is a coal barge without motive power, 355.8 feet in length and 52.1 feet beam.

(4) The tug Caspian is a steam tug, 80 feet in length, 21 feet beam and a draft of 12 feet, owned by the libellant.

(5) On May 10, 1944, the tugs Eureka and Caspian were engaged in towing the barge Darien, loaded with 7,318 short tons of coal, eastwardly through the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal from Town Point to Reedy Point.At that time, the tug Eureka was made fast to the starboard quarter of the barge and the tug Caspian was made fast to her port quarter.The flotilla was under the command of Captain David C. Reich of the Tug Caspian.

(6) At about 12:15 a.m., May 11, 1944 when the flotilla arrived at a point in the canal opposite Scott's Run, it encountered fog.

(7) By reason of fog, the flotilla tied up at the mooring dolphins located on the north side of the Canal west of Reedy Point and approximately 3 miles east of Scott's Run at approximately 1:30 a.m.

(8) The barge with her bow facing east was made fast to the mooring dolphins, with two bow lines leading forward, one spring line from the after end of the port forecastle head leading aft, and two stern lines leading aft.The lines were seven and eight inch sisal lines, several months old and had been used frequently before.

(9) The shelf of the Canal at the location where the barge was moored consisted of sand covered with soft mud.It sloped outward and downward at an angle of thirteen degrees until it reached the edge of the channel 30 to 45 feet south of the dolphins where it dropped suddenly, forming the side of the channel.

(10) Although the berth at the mooring dolphins was not a convenient place, except at high tide, to moor a ship with a draft as deep as that of the barge Darien, Captain Reich considered that it was safer to moor the barge there than to proceed out into the Delaware River in the foggy weather.

(11) At high tide the mooring dolphins were 20 feet under water; at low tide they were 15 feet under water.

(12) According to the United States Department of Commerce, Coast and Geodetic Survey Tide Tables, Atlantic Ocean, 1944, high tide was at 1:54 a.m. (EWT) and low tide was at 8:52 a.m. (EWT).However, these times vary in different locales and in the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, a narrow canal, connecting two rivers, the variation in time may amount to an hour.When the tide is rising in the Canal, the current runs west; when the tide is falling, the current runs east.

(13) At 6 a.m. the position of the tug Caspian was changed from the starboard bow of the barge to a position on the starboard side of the tug Eureka, with a single line to the tug Eureka.The tug Eureka was fastened to the starboard quarter of the barge by means of three lines.

(14) Although the tide was continually falling, no attempt was made after 5 a.m. by the Captain of the flotilla or any other member of the crew to slack the taut mooring lines of the barge in order to decrease the increasing strain placed on the lines by the traction of the barge which tended to slide down the shelf of the canal with the fall of the tide, and by the force applied by the increasing flow of the current against the flotilla.

(15) Shortly after 9 a.m. the barge Darien was at an angle with the dolphins.The mooring lines of the barge were taut.The bow was 6 to 8 feet and the stern 20 to 25 feet from the row of mooring dolphins.The barge had a slight starboard list, the bow was resting on the shelf of the canal, the stern was afloat.The vessels in the flotilla were relatively in the same position as they were at 6 a.m., the port side of the tug Caspian extending 125 feet from the mooring dolphins.The tugs had steam up.The fog had not lifted; visibility was about ½ mile; there was a slight southeast breeze.The current in the Canal was running eastwardly at the rate of approximately 2 to 2½ miles per hour, the tide was still falling.Other vessels, smaller in size than the barge Darien were also moored to the dolphins.

(16) At about 9:15 a.m. the Coast Guard picket boat CG-38614 approached the flotilla traveling westwardly just right of center of the channel at a distance of approximately 50 feet south of the tug Caspian and about 80 to 90 feet south of the barge Darien.The picket boat was proceeding against the...