Cliffs-Neddrill Turnkey International-Oranjestad v. M/T Rich Duke

947 F.2d 83, 1992 A.M.C. 1, 1991 U.S. App. LEXIS 24698, 1991 WL 206906
Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit·Decided October 17, 1991·No. No. 91-3182·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

COWEN, Circuit Judge.

The question presented on this appeal arising out of admiralty is an unusual one: when a ship under way collides with a ship at anchor, can the stationary vessel possibly be at fault under concepts of comparative negligence as applied in admiralty law, even though the moving ship observed the stationary ship well in advance of the allision? 1 Our answer may appear counterin-tuitive, but we nevertheless determine that in such circumstances the stationary ship can be found to be partially at fault, even though at anchor, when it has violated statutory rules of maritime navigation. Therefore, we will reverse the district court’s order of summary judgment against the defendant.

I.

This case involves two ships which should have passed in the night. However, because of a series of miscalculations, they collided.

Plaintiffs Cliffs-Neddrill Turnkey International-Oranjestad, Neddrill 2 B.V. and Neddrill (Nederland) B.V.,2 operated a self-propelled oil drilling ship which was anchored approximately eleven to twelve miles off the west coast of the Netherlands Antilles island of Aruba from December 17, 1989 until January 21, 1990. Defendants M/T Rich Duke, Rich Ocean Tankers S.A. and Fuyo Kaiun Co. Ltd.,3 operated a large seagoing tank vessel which was carrying a full cargo of crude oil from Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela to Delaware at the time of the allision. The sea lane used by the RICH DUKE and other large seagoing vessels placed it in the vicinity of the NEDD-RILL 2. The NEDDRILL 2 was anchored on an easterly heading with its starboard side to the RICH DUKE, which was proceeding in a northerly direction.

The anchoring position of the NEDD-RILL 2 was provided to Aruban authorities on December 15, 1989. This information was subsequently published in Dutch by the Inspector of Shipping for the Netherlands Antilles in its January 13, 1990 Beri-chten aan Zeebarenden (“Notices to Mariners”). However, the RICH DUKE, a vessel of Bahamian registry, was manned by a Korean crew, who could only read Korean and English. Consequently, the RICH DUKE was not immediately aware of the NEDDRILL 2’s position when it traveled the sea lane off Aruba. To compound the [85]*85confusion about the NEDDRILL 2’s position, the NEDDRILL 2 had not reported its location to the United States Defense Mapping Agency, the organization in charge of disseminating navigational information in the Caribbean Sea through written notices each week and radio broadcasts twice a day.

As an anchored vessel, the NEDDRILL 2 was required to display a sequence of navigational lights to inform other vessels that it was anchored and restricted in its ability to maneuver. 33 U.S.C. foil. § 1602, Rules 27(b)(i) and 30(a) (1988). The parties disagree as to whether the NEDDRILL 2 did in fact display those required lights. However, assuming that the required anchor lights were displayed, the RICH DUKE presented evidence that its officers did not see those lights, because those lights were overwhelmed by the intensity of 100 to 150 white work lights (each 500 to 1000 watts in strength) which were positioned on the deck of the NEDDRILL 2 near the required navigational lights.

On January 20, 1990, the RICH DUKE departed Venezuela for Delaware. In the dark early morning hours of January 21, the RICH DUKE’s second officer, Kwang Hwan Wi, first spotted the NEDDRILL 2 on radar when the oil drilling ship was approximately eleven miles to the north. The RICH DUKE was traveling on autopilot4 at approximately fourteen knots on a course of 018°. Despite the fact that the RICH DUKE was on a collision course with the NEDDRILL 2, second officer Wi determined that his vessel was the privileged vessel (it had the right of way) in a crossing situation and held his course and speed.5 Meanwhile, on the NEDDRILL 2, the crewmember assigned the nightwatch on the bridge was tending to other matters and not keeping a constant lookout. At the time, the NEDDRILL 2 was not making security calls on the international bridge-to-bridge VHF radio telephone which would have advised ships 25 miles away of the NEDDRILL’s position and the fact that it was an anchored vessel.

At a distance of seven miles, the lights of the NEDDRILL 2 were sighted by the RICH DUKE. Realizing that the NEDD-RILL 2 was not giving way, second officer Wi adjusted his vessel’s course to 025°, a course he calculated would allow the RICH DUKE to pass at a distance of three miles, instead of only one mile at the previous course of 018°. Although Wi had concluded that the NEDDRILL 2 was stationary, second officer Sun-pyeong Pyeon, who relieved Wi shortly before the allision, perceived what he believed was movement when he first observed the NEDDRILL 2 through binoculars.6 Pyeon adjusted the RICH DUKE’s course to 035° when the oil rig was approximately two or three miles away. Unfortunately, this final course change had the effect of steering the RICH DUKE directly into the NEDDRILL 2.

At this point, the Automatic Radar Plotting Aid (ARPA) alarm on the RICH DUKE warned Pyeon of a possible collision. When the two ships were only 400 meters apart, Pyeon ordered the RICH DUKE swung manually hard to starboard. However, the two vessels were already too close to avoid allision, and the port quarter of the RICH DUKE struck the starboard bow of the NEDDRILL 2. During the entire time that the two ships drew close, there was absolutely no communication between them, whether by radio, lights, or warning sounds.7

[86]*86The NEDDRILL 2 filed suit in district court against the RICH DUKE. The RICH DUKE was arrested when it arrived in Delaware. Plaintiffs moved for summary judgment on the issue of liability, claiming that the RICH DUKE was solely responsible for the allision. The district court judge granted plaintiffs motion for summary judgment, Cliffs-Neddrill Turnkey v. M/T Rich Duke, 760 F.Supp. 392 (D.Del. 1991), implicitly concluding that even under concepts of comparative negligence, the RICH DUKE was 100 percent responsible for the allision as a matter of law. The RICH DUKE appeals.

The district court had jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1333(1) (1988). We have jurisdiction to review the judgment of the district court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 (1988). At issue is whether summary judgment was properly granted by the district court. The RICH DUKE alleges that the NEDDRILL 2 violated its statutory duty of care by obscuring required anchoring and “restricted in ability to maneuver” lights (if in fact such lights were in place) with 100 to 150 bright work lights, and failing to post a proper lookout. Our analysis begins by examining the relevant standards and presumptions in admiralty collision cases. We then will apply these standards to the two statutory violations which, the RICH DUKE asserts, were committed by the NEDDRILL 2. Finally, we will examine whether there remain any material disputed facts which preclude summary judgment.

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Cliffs-Neddrill Turnkey International-Oranjestad v. M/T Rich Duke, 947 F.2d 83, 1992 A.M.C. 1, 1991 U.S. App. LEXIS 24698, 1991 WL 206906 (3d Cir. 1991).

947 F.2d 83 (Cliffs-Neddrill Turnkey International-Oranjestad v. M/T Rich Duke) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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