Petition of United States

• Decision Date: 14 August 1969
• Docket Number: No. 278,272 and 273.,278
• Citation: 303 F. Supp. 1282
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of North Carolina
• Parties: Petition of the UNITED STATES of America and Marine Transport Lines, Inc., as owners of the USNS POTOMAC, for exoneration from or limitation of liability. Mary Esther Ford LEONARD, Administratrix of the Estate of Clyde Virgesto Leonard, deceased, Libelant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Marine Transport Lines, Inc., and Aviation Fuel Terminals, Inc., Respondents. Eugene ALVES et al., Libelants, v. UNITED STATES of America, and Marine Transport Lines, Inc., Respondents, and Aviation Fuel Terminals, Inc., Respondent-Impleaded.

303 F. Supp. 1282

Petition of the UNITED STATES of America and Marine Transport Lines, Inc., as owners of the USNS POTOMAC, for exoneration from or limitation of liability.

Mary Esther Ford LEONARD, Administratrix of the Estate of Clyde Virgesto Leonard, deceased, Libelant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Marine Transport Lines, Inc., and Aviation Fuel Terminals, Inc., Respondents.

Eugene ALVES et al., Libelants, v. UNITED STATES of America, and Marine Transport Lines, Inc., Respondents, and Aviation Fuel Terminals, Inc., Respondent-Impleaded.

Nos. 278, 272 and 273.

United States District Court E. D. North Carolina, New Bern Division.

July 14, 1969.

As Amended August 14, 1969.

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William E. Gwatkin, III, Admiralty and Shipping Section, Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., and Robert H. Cowen, U. S. Atty., Raleigh, N. C., for the United States and Marine Transport Lines, Inc.

Vandeventer, Black, Meredith & Martin, Hugh S. Meredith, Norfolk, Va., Rountree & Clark, Wilmington, N. C., Claud R. Wheatly, Jr., Beaufort, N. C., for Aviation Fuel Terminals, Inc.

Kelsey & Owens, Sidney H. Kelsey, Norfolk, Va., for Mary Esther Ford Leonard, Admx., etc.

George H. McNeill, Morehead City, N. C., for William F. Craig and Therence G. Cloud.

Joseph H. Levinson, Smithfield, N. C., for William H. Massengill, Wade H. Stanley, and William Gerald Massengill.

Schwartz & O'Connell, Donald E. Klein, New York City, and William K. Rhodes, Jr., Wilmington, N. C., for estate of Peter Salopek and estate of John C. Smith.

Breit, Rutter, Cohen, Ermlich & Friedman, C. Arthur Rutter, Jr., Norfolk, Va., and Lee Pressman, New York City, for Eugene Alves, and others, including all crew members other than Leonard, Salopek, Smith, Craig and Cloud.

Lake, Boyce & Lake, Raleigh, N. C., for A. T. Leary, lessee of Beaufort & Morehead R. R. Co., and Home Insurance Co., as subrogee of A. T. Leary, etc.

Block, Meyland & Lloyd, Greensboro, N. C., for Coastal Realty Co.

MEMORANDUM

WALTER E. HOFFMAN, District Judge (under designation).

On September 26, 1961, the United States Naval Ship POTOMAC, a Navy tanker and a public vessel of the United States, was moored in the harbor of Morehead City, North Carolina, alongside a fuel pier belonging to Aviation Fuel Terminals, Inc., which had contracted with the United States for the handling and storage of Government-owned petroleum products. While the POTOMAC was discharging a Government-owned cargo of aviation gasoline and jet fuel, a fire broke out on the surface of the water near or underneath a railroad trestle crossing the Newport River, nearly half a mile away.

The fire spread toward Aviation Fuel's pier, and after it reached the pier and burned alongside the POTOMAC for awhile, there were a series of severe explosions on board, setting her afire and ultimately causing her to sink at the pier in 30 feet of water. The fire and explosions destroyed Aviation Fuel's pier, caused the total loss of the POTOMAC and her cargo, and allegedly have resulted in the death and injuries of various members of her crew, as well as certain other damage to persons and property in the vicinity.

These proceedings commenced with a petition for exoneration from or limitation of liability,¹ brought pursuant to the Shipowners' Limitation of Liability Act, 46 U.S.C., sections 183-189, by the United States as owner of the USNS POTOMAC and by Marine Transport Lines, Inc., as the POTOMAC's operating agent, with standing as such to petition under 46 U.S.C., section 186.² In response to the petition, 38 claims aggregating $2,111,413.17, including a claim by Aviation Fuel, were filed against the United States, which in turn filed an impleading petition for recovery over against Aviation Fuel, and thereby tendered Aviation Fuel to the claimants as an additional defendant. The United States also filed a crossclaim against Aviation Fuel for the loss of the POTOMAC and her cargo.

The proceedings went to trial on the merits, and on damages with respect to the death and personal injury claims.³ The case is before the Court for determination as to: (1) whether the United States is entitled to exoneration as to all claims; (2) if not, which claimants, including Aviation Fuel, are entitled to recovery against the United States; (3) whether and which claimants are entitled to recovery against Aviation Fuel; (4) as to those death and personal injury claimants entitled to recovery, the amount thereof; (5) whether the United States is entitled to limitation of liability, both as to property damage as well as death and personal injury claims;⁴ (6) whether the United States is entitled to recovery over against Aviation Fuel by way of reimbursement, contribution, indemnity or otherwise; and (7) whether the United States is entitled to recovery in whole or in part against Aviation Fuel for the loss of the POTOMAC and her cargo.

THE USNS POTOMAC

The United States Naval Ship POTOMAC was a Navy tanker and a public vessel of the United States, used exclusively for the carriage of Government-owned petroleum products for the military services. At all times material to this action, she was operated on behalf of the United States by Marine Transport Lines, as the Navy's public vessel operating agent.

She was a rather new tanker, of a new T-5 class.⁵ Built in 1957 in accordance with the Rules of the American Bureau of Shipping for Building and Classing Steel Vessels, she had a length of 593 feet, a breadth of 83.9 feet, and a depth of 42.6 feet. She measured 15,626 gross tons, 9,380 net tons, and had a cargo carrying capacity of 203,215 barrels.

The POTOMAC had nine main cargo tanks, running across the ship, each of which was divided by fore and aft bulkheads into three sections. The sections on the port and starboard sides were known as wing tanks, and those on the center line between them were known as the center tanks. In addition, there were two sets of deep tanks forward of the No. 1 cargo tank, the after one of which, known as the No. 2 deep tank, was also used for carrying liquid cargo. It was divided into two sections, known as the port and starboard deep tanks.

Immediately aft of the No. 9 cargo tank was the main pump room, where the ship's four main cargo pumps were located. Aft of the pump room were the machinery spaces, the boiler room, and the engine room in the stern of the ship. The crew's living quarters were in the after superstructure, aft of the cargo tanks and above the machinery spaces, one or more decks above the main deck. The officers were housed in the amidships superstructure, located above the No. 3 and No. 4 tanks, which also contained the ship's radio room, the bridge and the pilot house. A catwalk above the main deck led aft along the center line from the amidships superstructure to the after house and led forward to the forecastle deck, which commenced immediately forward of the No. 2 deep tank, one deck above the main deck.

The POTOMAC was designed so that her cargo tanks could be divided into four isolated systems for carrying four separate types of cargo. Each of these systems utilized its own set of lines and valves, and its own cargo pump, which pumped cargo up into a manifold line running across the main deck just aft of the amidships superstructure above the No. 5 tank, with four hose connections on both the port and starboard sides.

The four systems ran in the following manner. The No. 1 and No. 2 tanks, and the deep tanks, were connected through the starboard outboard suction line to the starboard outboard cargo pump. The No. 3 and No. 4 tanks were connected through the starboard inboard suction line to the starboard inboard cargo pump. The No. 5 and No. 6 tanks were connected through the port inboard suction line to the port inboard cargo pump. And finally, the No. 7, No. 8, and No. 9 cargo tanks were connected to the port outboard suction line through the port outboard cargo pump. Each of the four cargo pumps had a 4,200 gallon per minute capacity, and a relief valve set at 125 pounds per square inch.

In the main pump room, there were certain crossover lines which permitted transfer of cargo between the four systems. The upper crossover was on the discharge side of the pumps, and connected the discharge lines leading from the cargo pumps up to the main deck. The lower crossover was on the suction side of the pumps, and connected the suction lines leading to the pumps from the cargo tanks. There was a third cross-over at the bottom of the pump room, known as the sea suction crossover line, or simply the sea line, which was isolated from the cargo piping systems and used for taking on or discharging sea water ballast, connecting through drop valves with the suction lines from the cargo tanks, and thus with the cargo pumps.

At either end of the sea line were the sea suction valves, one on the port and one on the starboard side, through which sea water ballast is taken on or discharged. There was a third sea suction valve in the pump room known as the "eductor valve" or "master eductor valve" located on the starboard side of the pump room, and the sea chest or sea spool with which it was connected to the upper and lower crossover lines was also on the starboard side of the bottom of the vessel. This valve was closed and is not involved in this proceeding.

It is of prime importance that the sea suction valves are closed during cargo handling operations, so as to avoid contamination of petroleum cargo with sea water, and to avoid losing cargo overboard. For this reason, the POTOMAC's operating manual stated that the first step in discharging cargo was to "secure master sea suction valves" and to "close the pump discharge valve connected to the sea crossover line." The Navy required a certification that the sea suctions were closed and sealed, emphasizing on the form that "sea suctions and overboard...