Trinidad Shipping & Trading Co. v. Frame, Alston & Co.
| Citation | 88 F. 528 |
| Parties | TRINIDAD SHIPPING & TRADING CO. v. FRAME, ALSTON & CO. et al. |
| Decision Date | 23 February 1898 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
Cowen Wing, Putnam & Burlingham, for libelants.
Butler Notman, Joline & Mynderse, for respondents.
In the afternoon of March 23, 1896, in clear, calm weather, the Irrawaddy, an iron steamship 350 feet long, 1,697 tons net register and drawing 21 1/2 feet, while on a voyage from Granada to New York, with general cargo and about 20 passengers, struck on a coral reef near the southwestern part of Nevis Island, one of the Windward Isles. In about 10 days and after removing part of the cargo, she was pumped out and hauled off, towed into St. Kitts, and repaired sufficiently to complete her voyage to New York. A general average statement was then made up, in which the respondents as cargo owners were charged with $3,459.93. Of this sum $1,594.93 was on account of the loss and damage to the shipowners, the residue was for the damage to cargo. The respondents paid the amount assessed on account of the cargo, but refused to pay the amount assessed in respect to the alleged sacrifices of the shipowners, on the ground that the accident arose through the improper and negligent navigation of the ship too close to Nevis Island under instructions from the libelants, and also because the ship was not equipped with sufficient charts and sailing directions for navigation in those waters, nor was the master acquainted therewith. The libel was filed to recover the balance of the general average assessment.
The place of the stranding is approximately fixed by the testimony of the master of the Irrawaddy, who states that the southern extremity of Nevis bore from the ship E. 3/4 S. The ship was stranded upon two ridges of rock rising about 6 feet from the bottom running about E. and W., 30 feet apart, and each about 12 feet wide and about 60 feet long. While the ship lay stranded the master took soundings and found five or six fathoms of water for a considerable distance around. The distance to the shore was not measured, but was estimated at about three-quarters of a mile. The master had not previously been in these waters.
The vessel was one of a line, known as the Christall Line running between New York and the Windward Isles. She had taken on cargo at Trinidad, proceeded to Granada where she completed her loading, and left Granada bound for New York without further stop. In the direct course of such a voyage she would not naturally approach Nevis within 10 or 15 miles in following the sailing directions, or the special charts of that region. The superintendent of the line, however, had given instructions, and it was common practice for vessels, to go much nearer to the islands along the route, for the entertainment of the passengers, and the line was advertised to run in this way. A few minutes before the ship...
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