Complaint of the Bethlehem Steel Corp.

449 F. Supp. 681, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13371
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Ohio
DecidedOctober 20, 1977
DocketCiv. A. No. C75-104
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 449 F. Supp. 681 (Complaint of the Bethlehem Steel Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Complaint of the Bethlehem Steel Corp., 449 F. Supp. 681, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13371 (N.D. Ohio 1977).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

KRUPANSKY, District Judge.

This is a maritime action wherein plaintiff, Bethlehem Steel Corporation, has asserted its statutory right, pursuant to 46 U.S.C. §§ 183 et seq., as amended, to a limitation of liability on claims arising from the collision of its vessel, the Steamer Steel-ton, with Bridge No. 12 in the course of the ship’s passage through the Welland Canal of the St. Lawrence Seaway. The maritime and admiralty jurisdiction of this Court is properly invoked pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1333.

On August 5, 1977, plaintiff filed in this Court its Motion to Dismiss All Claims, appending thereto a certified copy of the July 21, 1977 Judgment Order of Justice [682]*682George Addy of the Federal Court of Canada, Trial Division, delivered in an action related to these proceedings styled Bethlehem Steel Corporation v. The St. Lawrence Seaway Authority, No. T-3418-74. Claimants herein responded in opposition to the Motion on August 16,1977. Plaintiff thereafter filed on September 13, 1977, a Supplement to Plaintiff’s Motion to Dismiss All Claims, appending thereto a certified copy of the Final Judgment Entry in the aforesaid Canadian proceeding. On October 6, 1977, claimants filed a Supplemental Response in Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion to Dismiss Claims to which plaintiff replied on October 14, 1977. In addition, plaintiff filed on October 14, 1977 a Supplement to its Motion to Dismiss All Claims. The Court is, therefore, called upon to render a final decision respecting plaintiff’s liability on the several claims filed herein. A brief review of the facts and circumstances giving rise to this action and a chronology of the judicial proceedings to date, both here and in Canada, is appropriate.

The Steamer Steelton is a Great Lakes bulk freighter owned and operated by plaintiff, a corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware. On August 25, 1974, while proceeding through the Welland Canal on a voyage from Buffalo, New York to Contrecoeur, Quebec, Canada, the Steelton collided with Bridge No. 12, a vertical lift highway bridge spanning the Welland Canal, causing extensive damage to both the vessel and the bridge. As a result of this collision, which occurred wholly within the territorial boundaries of Canada, Bridge No. 12 was destroyed. The debris obstructing the Welland Canal prevented vessels from traversing the waterway at that location for several days.

On September 26, 1974, plaintiff filed an action in the Federal Court of Canada against the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority and all other persons having claims against plaintiff and the steamship Steelton requesting a limitation of liability under Canadian law. Pursuant to the Canada Shipping Act, the Federal Court of Canada limited plaintiff’s liability and ordered plaintiff to pay into that court the amount of $671,-489.09 in Canadian dollars, plus interest to the date of deposit. On November 1, 1974 plaintiff deposited with that court the amount of $680,733.56 in Canadian dollars, including interest, ($691,761.44 in United States dollars).

In addition to those actions filed in the Federal Court of Canada, a number of separate actions were filed against plaintiff in this Court. Plaintiff thereafter filed in this Court a Complaint, pursuant to Rule 9(h), Fed.R.Civ.P., Rule F, Supplemental Rules for Certain Admiralty and Maritime Claims, and 46 U.S.C. § 185, petitioning this Court for limitation of liability, while claiming the benefit of the lesser limitation provided by the Canada Shipping Act.

Subsequent to the filing of an ad interim stipulation for value and a surety deposit in the sum of $850,000.00, with interest, (the limit of liability under 46 U.S.C. § 183) this Court issued, on February 6, 1975, a Monition ordering all persons or corporations claiming damages for any and all losses resulting from the aforesaid collision, to file their respective claims and answers with the Clerk of this Court on or before March 10, 1975, (later extended to April 11, 1975). The Court further enjoined the institution and prosecution of any and all suits, actions or legal proceedings in any court wheresoever situated, arising as a result of the aforesaid collision, except in proceedings for limitation of liability against plaintiff or against the Steelton, other than the proceedings already commenced in the Federal Court of Canada, Trial Division, Ottawa, Canada, Case No. T-3418-74.

Pursuant thereto, a number of separate actions arising out of the Steelton collision, which were then pending before this Court, were stayed while each of the plaintiffs therein filed claims in this proceeding. The following claims, identified by the name of the claimant, the original case number (if any separate action is still pending before the Court), the nature of the claim and the amount of damages sought, remain pending in this action:

[683]*683Claim of Marriott Corporation, through its division, Sunline Agencies, and Oceanic Sunline Special Shipping Company; C74-1170; for the delay of its chartered passenger vessel Stella Maris II, in the amount of Forty-One Thousand, Three Hundred and Fifty-Six Dollars ($41,356.00).
Claim of Weyerhaeuser Company, through its division, Weyerhaeuser Line; C74-1174 for the delay of its chartered cargo vessel Pallas, in the amount of Sixty-One Thousand, Nine Hundred and Seventeen Dollars and Nineteen Cents ($61,917.19).
Claim of A/S Rederiet Odfjell; C741180; for the delay of its cargo vessel Bow Rogn, in the amount of One Hundred Thousand Eight Hundred Forty-Eight Dollars and Thirty-Three Cents ($100,848.33).
Claim of Polski Linie Ocaniczne; C741196; for the delay of its cargo vessels Zawiercie, Zakopane and Zabrze, in the amount of Ninety-Two Thousand Dollars ($92,000.00). •
Claim of Naviera Alcala, S.A.; C74-1197; for the delay of its chartered cargo vessel Sebastiano, in the amount of Seventy Thousand, Five Hundred Dollars ($70,500.00).
Claim of Matthew Shipping Company Limited and Matthew Ship Chartering Limited; C74-1199; for the delay of its chartered motor vessels Sissy and Jobella, in the amount of Eighty Four Thousand, Three Hundred and Fifty Dollars ($84,350.00).
Claim of I. S. Joseph Shipping Co., Ltd.; C74-1200; for the delay of its chartered cargo vessel Golfo Di Palermo, in the amount of One Hundred and Forty-Five Thousand Dollars ($145,000.00).
Claim of Manchester Lines, Inc.; C741201; for the delay of its chartered cargo vessels Fortuna and Manchester Mercurio, in the amount of Seventy-Five Thousand Dollars ($75,000.00).
Claim of Naviera Ceresio S.A.; C74-1202; for the delay of its motor vessel Honesty, in the amount of One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00).
Claim of Scindia Steam Navigation, Ltd.; C74-1203; for the delay of its motor vessel Jalayaya, in the amount of One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,-000.00).

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Bluebook (online)
449 F. Supp. 681, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13371, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/complaint-of-the-bethlehem-steel-corp-ohnd-1977.