Sabine Towing and Transportation Co. v. St. Joe Paper Co.

• Decision Date: 15 November 1968
• Docket Number: No. 724.,724.
• Parties: SABINE TOWING AND TRANSPORTATION CO., Inc., a corporation, Plaintiff, v. ST. JOE PAPER COMPANY, a corporation, Defendant and Third-Party Plaintiff, v. Denys MANSON and Dave Maddox, Third-Party Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Florida

297 F. Supp. 748

SABINE TOWING AND TRANSPORTATION CO., Inc., a corporation, Plaintiff, v. ST. JOE PAPER COMPANY, a corporation, Defendant and Third-Party Plaintiff, v. Denys MANSON and Dave Maddox, Third-Party Defendants.

No. 724.

United States District Court N. D. Florida, Marianna Division.

November 15, 1968.

Thomas R. Ellinor, Panama City, Fla., for plaintiff and third-party defendant, Denys Manson.

Lynn C. Higby, of Isler, Welch, Bryant, Smith & Higby, Panama City, Fla., for defendant and third-party plaintiff.

MEMORANDUM DECISION

CARSWELL, Chief Judge.

This admiralty cause is before the the Court on the Motion for Summary Judgment of the Defendant, St. Joe Paper Company, with respect to its liability for damages to the Plaintiff's ship, S/S Colorado.

The Plaintiff's Complaint sounds in negligence and paraphrased, alleges that on January 30, 1967, the Defendant owned docks in Port St. Joe, Florida, at which the Plaintiff's ship, the S/S Colorado, was moored port side to. That on said date the Plaintiff's ship was damaged by two eyebolts which protruded from the Defendant's dock and which were used to support rubber fenders. The Complaint further alleges that the Defendant knew of the dangerous condition i. e. the two eyebolts, and negligently failed to warn the Plaintiff of the dangerous condition, thereby allowing the Plaintiff's vessel to contact the Defendant's dock while attempting to depart from the dock.

The material facts adduced in the depositions of the ship's Master and the Pilot reveal that the incident occurred in the early morning hours of January 30, 1967, at which time no significant weather or sea conditions existed. The S/S Colorado is a standard T-2 tanker 525 feet long with a gross tonnage of 10,446 and a bunker fuel capacity of 109 thousand barrels. At the time of the casualty the S/S Colorado was under charter to an oil company and had just completed the delivery of several thousand barrels of bunker C fuel oil to the Defendant.

Upon the arrival of the S/S Colorado at the bar at Port St. Joe, Florida, the Master, one Denys Manson, had employed a pilot, one Dave Maddox, for the purpose of bringing the S/S Colorado into the Defendant's dock, docking the vessel as well as to thereafter undock the vessel and return her to the bar.

At the time of docking, on January 29, 1967, Maddox ordered one shot or shackle of anchor chain (90 feet) in the water although he did not know whether this command was obeyed. At the time of the undocking of the S/S Colorado the stern and midship lines had been released and the stern was swinging out from the pier with the bow being held closely to the pier by a bow line and a breast line. The ship's engines were running and working the stern of the ship out with the rudder to the left. The First Mate was instructed to commence heaving on the starboard anchor which had the effect of pulling the bow of the ship away from the dock. This, in turn, caused the bow line and the breast line to begin stretching and when the Pilot realized that the lines were stretching more than normal, he became concerned and cut the ship's engines. The Mate continued to heave on the anchor and when the anchor came loose from the bottom the tightly stretched lines "snatched the ship back upside the dock". When the ship struck the side of the dock two metal eyebolts or hangers punched two holes in the side of the Plaintiff's ship. The metal eyebolts are located on top of the dock; are used for suspending six foot cylindrical rubber fenders and protrude out from the top of the dock approximately four and one-half inches. The Pilot had expected that during the undocking maneuver that the anchor would come loose from the bottom sooner than it did. His only explanation concerning the time that the anchor came loose from the bottom was that there was either more anchor chain put out than he had ordered or the anchor had become stuck on the bottom. At the time when the engines were cut the bow of the ship was approximately eight feet from the pier and thereafter moved away two, three or four feet. No command was given to cease heaving on the anchor although there was time for such an order.

The Pilot, Maddox, was well aware of the condition of the dock as well as the location and existence of the metal eyebolts or hangers having been piloting ships out of Port St. Joe since 1948. Likewise, the Pilot acknowledged that a high degree of care was necessary when maneuvering around the dock since, to his knowledge and in 1963, another vessel had suffered the same or similar damage by reason of the eyebolts or hangers. He knew of no other similar incidents where the hull of a vessel was punctured, however, he knew of many instances where the sides of ships were scraped by the eyebolts.

The deposition of Captain Denys Manson reveals that he, too, knew of the existence of the eyebolts or hangers prior to the accident, had personally inspected the eyebolts and had been advised by Maddox that the eyebolts constituted a hazard.

Likewise, the Master acknowledged that any additional warnings or advices from any official of the Defendant relative to the existence of the eyebolts would have been of little benefit to him. At the time of the incident complained of Manson was on the bridge of the S/S Colorado seeing that the Pilot's instructions were carried out. Both Manson and Maddox were eminently familiar with the physical characteristics and maneuverability of the S/S Colorado and similar vessels.

At the time of the incident the Pilot was operating the S/S Colorado as a non-compulsory pilot, as opposed to a compulsory pilot. The distinction between the two types of pilotage is that the conduct, knowledge, etc. of a noncompulsory pilot is imputable to the owners of the vessel whereby the conduct of a compulsory pilot is not so imputable. See Benedict on Admiralty, Vol. 1, page 361-362 and Jure v. United Fruit, 6 F.2d 6 (5th Cir. 1925).

In its current posture, then, the case basically involves a maneuverable, mobile vessel colliding with and striking a stationary dock. Under these circumstances the law appears to be well settled as found in the case of Patterson Terminals, Inc. v. S/S Johannes Frans, 209 F.Supp. 705 (D.C.La.1962), at page 707:

"1, 2 When a moving vessel strikes a stationary object, such as a wharf, an inference of negligence arises and the owners of the vessel then have the burden to rebut the inference. General Petroleum Corp. v. City of Los Angeles Hakonesan Maru, 42 Cal. App.2d 591, 109 P.2d 754, 1941 A.M.C. 510, 513 (1941). In admiralty, this presumption does more than merely require the ship to go forward and produce some evidence on the presumptive matter. The moving vessel must show that it was without fault or that the

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