Rederiaktiebolaget Atlanten v. Aktieselskabetfoderstof Kompagniet
| Decision Date | 22 March 1920 |
| Docket Number | KORN-OG,No. 171,171 |
| Citation | 252 U.S. 313,40 S.Ct. 332,64 L.Ed. 586 |
| Parties | REDERIAKTIEBOLAGET ATLANTEN v. AKTIESELSKABETFODERSTOF KOMPAGNIET |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
Messrs. John W. Griffin, of New York City, and Clarence Bishop Smith, of New York City, for petitioner.
Mr. Roscoe H. Hupper, of New York City, for respondent.
This is a libel in admiralty by a Danish corporation, the respondent here, against a Swedish corporation, owner of the steamship Atlanten, for breach of a charter party made in Denmark, on September 30, 1914. The voyage was to be from a southern port in the United States to Danish ports to be named. On January 8, 1915, the owner (the petitioner) wrote to the charterers that owing to the increased war risk and other difficulties 'we are compelled to cancel the Atlanten's charter party Pensacola to Scandinavia, and are ready to take all the consequences the Court after Clause No. 24 in the charter party will compel us to pay, not exceeding the estimated amount of freight.' It offered to proceed, however, if the charterers would pay a higher rate. This libel was brought five months later. The owner in its answer admitted the breach, but set up the clause 24 of the charter 'Penalty for nonperformance of this agreement to be proved damages, not exceeding estimated amount of freight,' and clause 21, It is alleged that by the laws of both Denmark and Sweden such a provision is binding and that arbitration is a condition precedent to the right to sue by reason of any dispute arising under the charter. The case was heard on exceptions to the answer. The District Court made a decree for the libellant for full damages, Aktieselskabet Korn-Og Foderstof Kompagniet v. Rederiaktiebolaget Atlanten, 232 Fed. 403, and this decision was affirmed by the Circuit Court of Appeals, 250 Fed. 935, 163 C. C. A. 185, Ann. Cas. 1918E, 491.
With regard to the arbitration clause we shall not consider the general question whether a greater effect should not be given to such clauses than formerly was done, since it is not necessary to do so in order to decide the case before us. For this case it is enough that we agree substantially with the views of Judge Learned Hand in the District Court and Judge Hough in the Circuit Court of Appeals. Their opinion was that the owner repudiated the contract and that the arbitration clause did not apply. It is true that it would be...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Allied-Bruce Terminix Cos. v. Dobson
...Foderstof Kompagniet v. Rederiaktiebolaget Atlanten, 250 F. 935, 937 (CA2 1918), aff'd on other grounds sub nom. The Atlanten, 252 U.S. 313, 64 L. Ed. 586, 40 S. Ct. 332 (1920); Munson v. Straits of Dover S. S. Co., 99 F. 787, 790-791 (SDNY), aff'd, 102 F. 926 (CA2 ...
-
Hall St. Assocs., L.L.C. v. Mattel, Inc.
...J.). 2. See Red Cross Line v. Atlantic Fruit Co., 264 U.S. 109, 120–122, 44 S.Ct. 274, 68 L.Ed. 582 (1924); The Atlanten, 252 U.S. 313, 315–316, 40 S.Ct. 332, 64 L.Ed. 586 (1920). Although agreements to arbitrate were not specifically enforceable, courts did award nominal damages for the br......
-
Kulukundis Shipping Co. v. Amtorg Trading Corp.
..."repudiation of the contract," as used by Lord Haldane in the Jureidini case, was incidentally referred to in The Atlanten, 1920, 252 U.S. 313, 40 S.Ct. 332, 64 L.Ed. 586, which arose before the enactment of the Arbitration Act of 1925. That was a suit against a Swedish corporation, owner o......
-
Studio Frames Ltd. v. Standard Fire Ins.
...See Roehm v. Horst, 178 U.S. 1, 13, 20 S.Ct. 780, 44 L.Ed. 953 (1900); Rederiaktiebolaget Atlanten v. Aktieselskabet Korn-Og Foderstof Kompagniet, 252 U.S. 313, 40 S.Ct. 332, 64 L.Ed. 586 (1920); City of Fairfax v. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, 582 F.2d 1321, 1325-26 (4th ......