PANAMA TRANSPORT COMPANY v. United States
| Decision Date | 16 August 1957 |
| Docket Number | A. 146-265,No. A. 145-162,A. 152-47.,A. 145-162 |
| Citation | 155 F. Supp. 699 |
| Parties | PANAMA TRANSPORT COMPANY, Libelant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Respondent. UNITED STATES of America, as charterer, insurer and underwriter, and Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, Incorporated, as owner of THE S.S. MOBILGAS, Libelants, v. PANAMA TRANSPORT COMPANY, and THE M.V. ESSO BALBOA, her engines, tackle, apparel, etc., Respondents, PANAMA TRANSPORT COMPANY, as owner of the M.V. Esso Balboa, Cross-Libelant, v. UNITED STATES of America, as charterer, insurer and underwriter, and Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, Incorporated, as owner of the S.S. Mobilgas, Cross-Respondents. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
Kirlin, Campbell & Keating, New York City, for Panama Transport Co. and The Esso Balboa, Raymond T. Greene, and Stephen J. Buckley, New York City, of counsel.
Paul W. Williams, U. S. Atty., New York City, for Socony-Vacuum Oil Co., Incorporated and the United States, Gilbert S. Fleischer, Trial Atty., Dept. of Justice, Louis E. Greco, Washington, D. C., of counsel.
These proceedings were brought as a result of a collision between the M. V. Esso Balboa and the S. S. Mobilgas off the north coast of New Guinea during the early morning of September 19, 1944. The matters were tried by the court. After hearing the testimony, examining the exhibits, briefs and pleadings, the following findings are hereby made:
Findings of Fact.
1. At all times mentioned herein, libelant, United States of America, was, and still is, a sovereign, and at all such times was the charterer of the S. S. Mobilgas and also insured the libelant, Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, Incorporated, with respect to the S. S. Mobilgas against certain perils and risks, including collision.
2. At all such times libelant, Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, Incorporated, was and is a corporation organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the State of New York, and owner of the tanker Mobilgas, a vessel of 9,925 tons gross, 6,174 tons net register, 486.3 feet long, 68.3 feet in breadth, 36.9 feet deep and built in 1937.
3. Libelant, United States of America, has paid certain sums of money to libelant, Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, Incorporated, under its contract of insurance and has become subrogated to and has succeeded to and acquired pro tanto the rights of the assured, Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, Incorporated, against the M. V. Esso Balboa and Panama Transport Co. by reason of the collision hereinafter described.
4. At all times mentioned herein, cross-libelant, Panama Transport Company, was and still is, a corporation organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the Republic of Panama, and at all times hereinafter mentioned was, and still is, the owner and operator of the tanker M. V. Esso Balboa, a vessel of 9,553 tons gross, 6,000 tons net register, 489 feet long, 66 feet beam, 36.3 feet deep and built in 1939.
5. At all such times the United States of America, through the War Shipping Administration, employed and operated the M. V. Esso Balboa under a requisition time charter, dated April 20, 1942 under which the charterer undertook to "provide and pay for or assume" insurance of "the full form of standard hull war risk policy of the War Shipping Administration, which shall include malicious damage, sabotage, strikes, riots, and civil commotion * * *."
6. Pursuant to said charter, the Director of Wartime Insurance, War Shipping Administration, acting for the United States of America, executed and delivered to the Panama Transport Company War Risks Binder F. C. No. 838, insuring the M. V. Esso Balboa against war risks only from the time of delivery of said vessel to the termination of said charter.
7. The full form of standard hull war risk insurance policy of the War Shipping Administration in force at the time of the issuance of said binder was incorporated therein by reference and contained an endorsement entitled, "War Risk Clauses," which provided in part as follows:
8. During the early morning of September 19, 1944, shortly after 2:00 a. m., a collision occurred between the S. S. Mobilgas and the M. V. Esso Balboa off the north coast of New Guinea.
9. The night was pitch black and the weather was partly cloudy with an east southeast wind of about force 3; the sea was moderate.
10. In accordance with naval instructions, both vessels were proceeding blacked out and in opposite directions. The S. S. Mobilgas was sailing light and was steering a course of 170°T at a speed of about 13 knots. The M. V. Esso Balboa was loaded with a cargo of fuel oil and was steering on a course of 326°T at a speed of about 7½ knots.
11. The M. V. Esso Balboa was proceeding from Finschhafen, New Guinea to Seeadler Harbor, Manus Island, of the Admiralty Islands group. "Vessels from Finschhafen to Seeadler Harbor were, at the time of the collision, being instructed to proceed on a track which passed through the following positions:
"(A) 06°30'S. : 148°08'E. thence in a direction 325° to —
"(B) 05°33.8'S. : 147°29.8E. thence in a direction 355° to —
"(C) 02°54.2'S. : 147°15.7'E." (Exhibit 6)
12. On the early morning of September 19, 1944, the S. S. Mobilgas was proceeding from Seeadler Harbor to Finsch Harbor under naval instructions which required vessels making such trips at that time to proceed on a route which passed through the following positions:
"(L) 02°54'S. : 147°10'E. thence in a direction 175° to —
"(M) 05°35'S. : 147°25'E. thence in a direction 146° to —
"(N) 06°30'S. : 148°02'E." (Exhibit 6)
13. Pursuant to the above-mentioned reciprocal and parallel routes, the S. S. Mobilgas was to turn to the left to course 146°T at a point which was approximately 4 miles to the westward of where the M. V. Esso Balboa, under her instructions, was to turn to the right to course 355°T.
14. At 2:00 a. m. on the morning of September 19, 1944, the position of the M. V. Esso Balboa in the Vitiaz Strait was obtained by a dead reckoning fix. Navigation by dead reckoning depends upon the course made over the sea bottom and the distance run. The set or direction of the current affects the course of the ship made over the sea bottom. Moreover, the speed of the vessel, which is a factor in determining the distance run, is also affected by the current.
15. Although there was evidence that a northwest current of approximately 2 knots was running through the Vitiaz Strait at the time of the collision, the navigator of the M. V. Esso Balboa conceded that in plotting the track he made no allowance for the set and drift of the current.
16. The navigator of the M. V. Esso Balboa admitted that on the M. V. Esso Balboa's return trip to Finsch Harbor in following the reciprocal route of 146°, two changes in course, namely from 140° to 137° and from 137° to 132°, were made, possibly in order to turn the vessel more to the eastward so as to compensate for a westward carriage of the vessel by the current.
17. The fixes taken by the S. S. Mobilgas prior to the collision indicated that she was making a course of 179° instead of 175° as prescribed and, therefore, her course was altered to 170°T in order to compensate for the westward set of the current.
18. The evidence in these suits establishes that by failing to allow for the set or direction of the current the M. V. Esso Balboa overran the point where she was to turn to the right to course 355°T, and by straying from her fixed course under the naval instructions she thereby crossed the prescribed path of the S. S. Mobilgas at the point of collision.
19. In addition to a watch officer in the wheelhouse and two able-bodied merchant seamen, one stationed at the wheel and the other on the flying bridge, the other personnel on watch on board the M. V. Esso Balboa during the early morning of September 19, 1944, consisted of several members of a United States Naval Armed Guard unit. One Navy man was stationed on the flying bridge, another was in the gunner's tub, 10 or 15 feet directly behind the ship's bow, two Navy men were on the starboard side aft and one was stationed on the fantail. There was no merchant lookout stationed on the bow of the ship.
20. The S. S. Mobilgas was first sighted by the Navy man stationed on the flying bridge. He spotted a V-wake of another ship and saw the silhouette of the S. S. Mobilgas about a quarter of a mile away, or more. He went over and picked up the voice or speaking tube which ran from the flying bridge to the wheelhouse, but it was rusty and broke in his hand. The Navy man then ran down below to the wheelhouse and reported to the watch officer that he saw an object or ship 20 or 30 degrees off the starboard bow. The watch officer turned on the ship's lights and the Navy man returned to his post on the flying bridge, where he observed...
To continue reading
Request your trial