United States v. Carroll Towing Co.

Facts

On June 20, 1943, the Conners Company chartered its barge, the Anna C, to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. The charter included the services of a bargee, the barge's attendant. On January 2, 1944, the Anna C, loaded with flour, was tied up off Pier 58 on the North River, then shifted to Pier 52. At some point, five other barges were moored outside her, and her lines to the pier were not strengthened. A line from barges at the next pier to her tier blocked the entrance to the slip. The bargee left at five o'clock in the afternoon of January 3rd. The Grace Line sent its chartered tug, the Carroll, to move out a barge at that next pier. The tug's captain put a deckhand and a Grace Line harbormaster on the barges. He told them to make sure the tier was safely moored before throwing off the blocking line, as a strong northerly wind was blowing. They readjusted the fasts (the mooring lines), including the Anna C's, and threw off the line. The tug had backed only about seventy-five feet when the tier broke adrift, twenty-one hours after the bargee left. The Anna C struck a tanker, whose propeller broke a hole in her. Two tugs that came to help had pumps and could have kept her afloat had they known she was leaking, but no one was aboard. At about 2:15 P.M. on January 4, 1944, she careened, dumped her flour and sank.

Issues

1. Was the Grace Line liable for any part of the damages when its harbormaster joined the tug's deckhand in checking and readjusting the Anna C's fasts before the tier broke adrift?
2. Was the barge owner, the Conners Company, at fault because its bargee was absent without excuse during working hours, so that its own recovery must be reduced?

Holding

The Grace Line was liable, equally with the Carroll Company, because its harbormaster jointly passed on the Anna C's fasts. The Conners Company was also at fault: in such circumstances, with barges constantly moved in and out in the short January days of wartime, it was a fair requirement to keep a bargee aboard during the working hours of daylight, absent an excuse, and the court said that is all it held. It recovers its collision damages in full but bears one third of the sinking damages.