Tsakos Shipping & Trading, S.A. v. M/T ""Taboga"", 78-3780
| Decision Date | 15 June 1979 |
| Docket Number | No. 78-3780,78-3780 |
| Citation | 597 F.2d 66 |
| Parties | Page 66 597 F.2d 66 TSAKOS SHIPPING & TRADING, S.A., Plaintiff-Appellee, v. M/T "TABOGA," her engines, tackle, etc., and Refineria Panama, S.A., Defendants-Third Party Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. PANAMA CANAL COMPANY, Third Party Defendant-Appellant. Summary Calendar. * United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
James R. Dunworth, Dwight A. McKabney, John L. Haines, Jr., Balboa Heights, Canal Zone, for Panama Canal Co.
DeCastro & Robles, Woodrow DeCastro, Balboa, Canal Zone, for Tsakos.
Roy V. Phillipps, Balboa, Canal Zone, for Refineria Panama, S.A.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of the Canal Zone.
Before CLARK, GEE and HILL, Circuit Judges.
Plaintiff's vessel, IRENE'S GRACE, was damaged when defendant vessel TABOGA struck her stern in a lock of the Panama Canal. The TABOGA was being piloted at the time by an employee of third-party defendant Panama Canal Company. The collision resulted in slight damage to the IRENE'S GRACE's stern.
Pursuant to 2 Canal Zone Code, section 291, the Canal Company may be sued for damages to vessels while under the pilotage of its employees. In all other respects it enjoys sovereign immunity as an agency of the United States. A mandatory prerequisite for such a suit, however, is that a Canal Company investigation be conducted and the basis for the claim be "laid before" the company prior to the involved vessels' leaving the canal. 2 C.Z.C. § 297. In the instant case, the masters of both vessels declined an investigation and laid no basis for a claim before the company, signing waivers to that effect.
Plaintiff later sued defendant, who answered that the waiver of action against the Canal Company absolved it as well. Alternatively, defendant sought indemnity from the Canal Company. The Canal Company contended that the waiver released it from all liability, including indemnity, and that it also released defendant, since liability would be based on vicarious liability only.
The district court held that the waiver did not absolve defendant from liability and that section 297 did not limit actions solely for indemnity. It therefore ordered the Canal Company to indemnify defendant for damages suffered by plaintiff's vessel and to pay attorney's fees to defendant. The Canal Company appeals. Although damages have not been determined, the decision is a final determination of the rights and liabilities of parties to an admiralty action. See 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(3).
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...1307, 1311 (5th Cir. 1978), Cert. denied, 439 U.S. 1002, 99 S.Ct. 612, 58 L.Ed.2d 677 (1979). See also Tsakos Shipping and Trading S. A. v. M/T "Taboga," 597 F.2d 66 (5th Cir. 1979). In the instant case, while Congress waived sovereign immunity by establishing the PCC as a sue and be sued c......
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Tsakos Shipping & Trading v. M/T Taboga
... ... Panama, S. A., Defendants-Third Party Plaintiffs-Appellees, ... PANAMA CANAL COMPANY, Third Party Defendant-Appellant ... No. 78-3780 ... United States Court of Appeals, ... Fifth Circuit ... Nov. 1, 1979 ... Appeal from the United States District Court for the ... ...