Todd Shipyards Corp. v. Turbine Service, Inc.
| Decision Date | 29 April 1982 |
| Docket Number | No. 79-1685,79-1685 |
| Citation | 674 F.2d 401,1982 A.M.C. 1976 |
| Parties | TODD SHIPYARDS CORPORATION, Plaintiff-Appellee Cross Appellant, v. TURBINE SERVICE, INC., et al., and the Travelers Insurance Company, Defendants-Appellees Cross Appellants, Sentry Insurance Company, et al., Defendants-Appellants Cross Appellees, Auto Transportation, S.A., Intervenor-Appellee Cross Appellant. TURBINE SERVICE, INC. and the Travelers Insurance Co., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. The Vessel, S/S KATRIN, Defendant-Appellee, Auto Transportation, S.A., Intervenor-Appellee Cross Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Hulse, Nelson & Wanek, John I. Hulse, IV, New Orleans, La., for Sentry Ins. Co.
Phelps, Dunbar, Marks, Claverie & Sims, James B. Kemp, Jr., New Orleans, La., Richard A. Hagen, New York City, for Todd Shipyards.
Fred E. Salley, New Orleans, La., for Turbine Service and Travelers Ins.
Donald F. Mooney, New York City, Francois Allain, New Orleans, La., for Auto Transp., S.A.
Deutsch, Kerrigan & Stiles, Allen F. Campbell, New Orleans, La., for Gonzales.
Appeals from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Before DYER *, SAM D. JOHNSON and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.
In this appeal we review the judgment of the district court holding Todd Shipyards Corporation liable to Auto Transportation, S.A., for damage to its vessel S/S KATRIN and for detention in the amount of $963,523.20, and granting Todd Shipyards Corporation indemnity from Turbine Service, Inc. and Gonzales Manufacturing and Industrial Machine Works, Inc. and their respective underwriters, The Travelers Insurance Company and Sentry Insurance Company. The judgment exonerated the defendants from any liability resulting from the failure of the ships turbines which occurred off the coast of Cork, Ireland. No party is satisfied and all parties, except the insolvent Turbine Service, Inc. appeal. Except for Todd who concedes that the findings of fact are not clearly erroneous, the parties challenge many of the district courts 181 findings of fact and virtually all of the courts conclusions of law. 1
We affirm the judgment in favor of the defendants with respect to the Cork casualty. We affirm the judgment in favor of Auto Transportation and against all defendants with respect to liability. We modify the judgment with respect to damages. We reverse the judgment holding inapplicable one of the exclusions in the policies of Travelers and Sentry.
At the outset it bears noting once again that findings of fact made in an admiralty case are binding unless clearly erroneous. Fisher v. Agios Nicolaos V, 628 F.2d 308 (5th Cir. 1980). And questions concerning the amount of damages, the existence of negligence and proximate causation are treated as factual issues and are thus subject to the clearly erroneous standard. General Intermodal Logistics Corp. v. Mainstream Shipyards and Supply, Inc., 666 F.2d 129, 131 (5th Cir. 1982); Pluyer v. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd., 664 F.2d 1243, 1247 n.4 (5th Cir. 1982); Florida East Coast Railway Company v. Revilo Corp., 637 F.2d 1060, 1067 (5th Cir. 1981); Noritake Co., Inc. v. M/V Hellenic Champion, 627 F.2d 724, 728 (5th Cir. 1980).
The KATRIN was purchased by Auto Transportation, S.A. (Owners) early in 1973. In 1975 a contract was entered into between Todd Shipyards Corporation (Todd) and Owners for the performance of bulkhead and boiler repairs, and to open the turbines for examination. The contract contained Todd's "red letter" terms and conditions. The boiler and bulkhead repairs were accomplished without incident and have no bearing on this litigation.
The low pressure (LP) turbine was opened up by employees of Turbine Service, a subcontractor with whom Todd had dealt on prior occasions. It was found badly damaged and an agreement was subsequently made by Todd and Owners to effect permanent repairs to the LP turbine. These repairs consisted, in part, of removing four rows of the LP turbine for a complete renewal. Necessary blading was to be manufactured. The remaining turbine blading was to be faired, dressed and renewed. Other blading in the LP rotor and stator (stationary part of the turbine) were to be removed, faired and reinstalled in good order. Because Todd's labor force was occupied and its shops were crowded, Todd engaged Turbine Service to perform the necessary work.
There were insufficient spare blades aboard the vessel to supply the necessary replacements and Todd was unable to locate such blades. Turbine Service obtained replacement blades that were not compatible with the turbine and had to be modified for insertion in the turbine by milling off the blade roots and welding the old roots to the new blades. The welding work was performed by Gonzales without the knowledge of Todd or the Owners under a subcontract from Turbine Service in violation of the terms of the Todd purchase order.
Turbine Service directed Gonzales not to apply weld material to either the airfoil or the blade roots, as this would entail a considerable amount of machining to return the blades to their original design. A penetration weld was rejected by Turbine Service because of the time and cost involved, so a fillet weld was made on two sides of the rectangular shaped section where the airfoil base joined the old root, and a fusion patch (or edge weld) was made on the other two sides where the leading and trailing edges of the blade met the top of the root. Spacer rings were manufactured by Gonzales and installed in the turbine casing by Turbine Service and Gonzales to reduce the clearance between the modified rotor blades and the casing because the replacement blades were shorter than the originals.
Turbine Service did not know the components of the metal of the old roots and the new airfoil. Gonzales assumed that the metals were dissimilar and although the manufacturer's manual recommended a 309 rod, Gonzales used a 308 rod because there were no 309 rods in stock. It was later discovered that the blades and roots were 410 which requires pre-heating, post-heating and stress relieving, but Gonzales had no facilities to do such testing.
Turbine Service informed Gonzales that it would have tests run on the blades and obtain approval from Todd and Owners. Turbine Service never had the blades tested, and when it submitted a work list to Owners, it referred to "new blades manufactured" and failed to disclose the modifications of the blades by welding to either Todd or Owners.
Gonzales machined and welded the fabricated blades in four rows of the rotor, manufactured spacer rings according to measurements given to it by Turbine Service, and installed those rings. It balanced both the HP and LP rotors on its balancing equipment. On completion of this work, Gonzales obtained a release from liability from Turbine Service.
After reinstallation, the turbine was closed up in the vessel by Turbine Service, but with some difficulty because of a pre-existing distortion of the casing. The KATRIN satisfactorily passed a dock trial but on the river trial noises were heard inside the turbine. Upon return to Todd's shipyard, the LP turbine was opened and it was discovered that there was a failure of the welds in two rotor blades, and the broken blades caused all the ensuing damage.
Owners elected to ship the LP turbine to its original manufacturer, Siemens, A.G. in Germany (Siemens) for rebuilding. Eight months later the LP turbine was returned to New Orleans and reinstalled by Ardell Engineering. On examination of the HP turbine, which had remained in place in New Orleans, it was disclosed that the gap between the tips of the rotor blades and the outer casing of the turbine (referred to as "clearances"), were excessive. Despite this discovery, Owners decided to let the vessel sail from New Orleans in March of 1976.
The KATRIN traded commercially for the next four months, experiencing excessive temperature in the condensor top. In July, 1976, passing the Irish coast at Cork, the turbines suddenly seized and stopped. The vessel began drifting towards the coast and the danger was such that the master ordered the chief engineer to try to operate the turbines, no matter what their condition, in order to save the ship and crew. The chief engineer started the turbines and operated them long enough to bring the vessel away from the coast and subsequently into the Cork harbor. The damage to the HP and LP turbines due to this casualty was so extensive that the vessel was sold for scrap.
This litigation was initiated by Todd in June 1975. It brought suit against Turbine Service and Gonzales, demanding return of the KATRIN's damaged turbine parts which had been removed after the river trial casualty and taken to the shops of Turbine Service and Gonzales. Both Gonzales and Turbine Service responded by asserting a lien for monies due from Todd on prior invoices for work done on the turbines. Owners then intervened. Turbine Service's insurer, Travelers and Gonzales' insurer, Sentry, were brought into the case.
Despite the manner in which the action was initiated, it is actually a suit by Owners to recover for damage to the KATRIN. The parties claims, counterclaims and cross claims at trial were as follows:
(1) Owners sought to recover from all other parties approximately $3.5 million dollars for the cost of repairing the KATRIN's LP turbine in Germany, loss in the vessel's value by reason of the Cork casualty, loss of use of the vessel during the various repair periods, and related expenses.
(2) Todd sought to recover from Owners its unpaid repair invoices, and sought indemnity from Turbine Service/Travelers and Gonzales/Sentry in the event that Todd was found liable to Owners.
(3) Turbine Service/Travelers sought indemnity from Gonzales/Sentry for negligent workmanship by Gonzales and sought to recover from Todd and Owners unpaid repair invoices.
(4) Gonzales/Sentry sought to recover unpaid repair invoices from...
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