Bethlehem Steel Corp. v. Marriott Corp.

631 F.2d 441, 1980 A.M.C. 2122
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedOctober 2, 1980
DocketNos. 78-3137, 78-3138
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 631 F.2d 441 (Bethlehem Steel Corp. v. Marriott Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bethlehem Steel Corp. v. Marriott Corp., 631 F.2d 441, 1980 A.M.C. 2122 (6th Cir. 1980).

Opinion

LIVELY, Circuit Judge.

This admiralty case presents several issues related to limitation of liability1 which have not been decided previously by this court.

I.

The Steelton, a Great Lakes steamship owned by the plaintiff Bethlehem, collided with a highway bridge which spanned the Welland Canal. The Welland Canal lies wholly within the territorial boundaries of Canada. The bridge, owned by the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority, was extensively damaged and the canal was completely blocked for approximately two weeks. A number of ships were required to interrupt their voyages and stand by until the canal was cleared. Shortly after the collision Bethlehem filed an action in the Federal Court of Canada for limitation of liability under Canadian law, naming as defendants the Seaway Authority “and all other persons having claims against the plaintiff, its ship ‘Steelton’ or the fund hereby to be created.” The Canadian court entered an order limiting liability to $671,489 (Canadian), plus interest to date of deposit. Bethlehem deposited with the Canadian court $680,733, including interest ($691,761 (U.S.)). The Canadian court stayed all further proceedings arising out of the collision and entered a notice with provision for publication, requiring all persons who claimed damage from the collision to file their claims with that court.

[443]*443A number of actions asserting claims arising out of the Steelton incident were filed against Bethlehem in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Thereafter Bethlehem filed the present action in that court petitioning for limitation of liability under 46 U.S.C. § 1852 while claiming the benefit of the lesser limitation provided by the Canada Shipping Act.3 The district court then ordered all persons claiming damage from the Steelton incident to file claims with it, and enjoined the institution and prosecution of any actions arising from the incident, except the instant proceeding and the one already pending in the Federal Court of Canada. The total claims filed in the two actions were far in excess of the amount available for their satisfaction under the limitation provisions of either Canadian law or 46 U.S.C. § 183.

H.

A.

The district court recognized the general rule that the right to recover for a tort is governed by the law of the place where the tort occurred. At the same time, the court recognized that the law of the forum determines procedural matters. Thus, the district court convened a hearing to determine whether the Canadian limitation law is substantive or procedural. Both Bethlehem and the claimants produced expert witnesses, Canadian attorneys, who agreed that there are no Canadian cases which define the nature of the limitation law. However, the experts disagreed in their opinions on the nature of the law, Bethlehem’s witness proclaiming it substantive and the claimants’ witness labeling it procedural.

After considering the expert testimony and several English decisions, the district court concluded that “the limitation of liability provisions of the Canada Shipping Act are procedural and do not attach to the rights created by that Act.” Thus, the court held that 46 U.S.C. § 183, the law of the forum, determines the maximum limitation of the fund created in this action. The effect of this ruling was to set Bethlehem’s potential liability at $850,000 rather than $691,000. This is the holding from which Bethlehem has filed its cross-appeal.

B.

The judgment was first appealed by a group of shipowners and charterers whose claims were dismissed by the district court. The claimants, of which Marriott Corporation is one, are owners and charterers of vessels which were detained by reason of the obstruction of the Welland Canal following the Steelton’s collision with the bridge. During the pendency of the district court action, the Canadian trial court entered a judgment dismissing all claims filed in that court based on detention of vessels. The judge of that court, Justice Addy, [444]*444found that under Canadian law when a claim is only for economic loss, with no actual physical injury to the claimant, damages are generally not recoverable even where the injury might have been foreseeable and a proper causal relationship between act and injury exists. A case from the Supreme Court of Canada, Rivtow Marine Ltd. v. Washington Iron Works, [1974] S.C.R. 1189, [1973] 6 W.W.R. 692, was distinguished on the ground that “a proximity of relationship giving rise to a duty to warn” justified an award of damages for economic loss unaccompanied by physical injury in that products liability case. Concluding that the ruling of Justice Addy in a case involving the identical facts and legal issue presented in the instant case stated the controlling law of Canada, the district court held there could be no recovery for economic loss resulting from vessel delay. This holding presents the second issue for determination on this appeal.4

III.

In Ocean Steam Navigation Co. v. Mellor (The Titanic), 233 U.S. 718, 34 S.Ct. 754, 58 L.Ed. 1171 (1914), the primary question was whether the owner of a foreign ship may limit its liability for losses on the high seas by resort to the courts of the United States. The Supreme Court held that when a foreign ship is sued in the courts of this country it may invoke limitation under U.S. law. This is so even though the foundation for recovery is a British tort and under the circumstances of the case the ship in not subject to the substantive law of the United States.

Lower court decisions following Titanic have concluded that limitation of liability statutes relate to remedy rather than to liability or the right to recover. E. g., Royal Mail Steam Packet Co. v. Companhia de Navegaco Lloyd Brasileiro, 31 F.2d 757 (E.D.N.Y.1928), aff’d, 55 F.2d 1082 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 287 U.S. 607, 53 S.Ct. 11, 77 L.Ed. 528 (1932); The Mandu, 102 F.2d 459 (2d Cir.1939). The Supreme Court cast some doubt on the accepted rule of The Titanic in Black Diamond Steamship Corp. v. Robert Stewart & Sons, Ltd. (Norwalk Victory), 336 U.S. 386, 69 S.Ct. 622, 93 L.Ed. 754 (1949). In that case the only issue decided was the amount of bond required to be posted in the United States district court by the shipowner seeking to limit its liability for losses which occurred in foreign waters. The plaintiff sought limitation under the Brussels Convention and tendered a bond which would have satisfied the requirements of the Convention. The district court dismissed the action for failure to post the larger bond required by the American limitation statute.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Getty Refining & Marketing Co. v. Mt Fadi B
766 F.2d 829 (Third Circuit, 1985)
Getty Refining And Marketing Company v. Mt Fadi B
766 F.2d 829 (Third Circuit, 1985)
Bethlehem Steel Corporation v. Marriott Corporation
631 F.2d 441 (Sixth Circuit, 1980)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
631 F.2d 441, 1980 A.M.C. 2122, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bethlehem-steel-corp-v-marriott-corp-ca6-1980.