Edison Steamship Corp. v. Eastern Minerals, Inc.

167 F. Supp. 601, 1958 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3460
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedOctober 31, 1958
DocketCiv. A. No. 58-1026, Admiralty No. 58-43
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 167 F. Supp. 601 (Edison Steamship Corp. v. Eastern Minerals, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Edison Steamship Corp. v. Eastern Minerals, Inc., 167 F. Supp. 601, 1958 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3460 (D. Mass. 1958).

Opinion

WYZANSKI, District Judge.

These are companion cases, one in admiralty, the other at law. Both assert claims, for consecutive periods of time, for charter hire of the S. S. Edison Mariner, at the rate of $1,800 a day.

July 30, 1958 the shipowner, Edison Steamship Corporation and Eastern Minerals, Inc., a Boston company of which David F. Mahoney is president, entered into a time charter, on government form 138, covering the hire of the S. S. Edison Mariner. [Ex. 1.] The parties struck out certain clauses from the standard government form of time charter. But they left among other paragraphs the following relevant provisions:

“4. That the Charterers shall pay for the use and hire of the said Vessel at the rate of Eighteen Hundred Dollars ($1800) * * * per day or pro-rata for part of a day * * *
“5. Payment of said hire to be made in New York * * * semimonthly in advance.
“6. That the cargo * * * be * * * discharged in any dock or at any wharf or place that Charterers * * * may direct * *.
“8. That the Captain * * * shall render all customary assistance with ship’s crew and boats. The [603]*603Captain (although appointed by the Owners), shall be under the orders and directions of the Charterers as regards employment and agency * •* *
“11. That the Charterers shall furnish the Captain from time to time with all requisite instructions and sailing directions, in writing * * *
“15. That in the event of the loss of time from deficiency of men or stores, fire, breakdown or damages to hull, machinery or equipment, grounding, detention by average accidents to ship or cargo, drydocking for the purpose of examination or painting bottom, or by any other cause preventing the full working of the vessel, the payment of hire shall cease for the time thereby lost * *
“18. That the Owners shall have a lien upon all cargoes * * * for any amount due under the Charter * * *.
“23. * * * all winches to be at Charterers’ disposal during loading and discharging; steamer to provide one winchman per hatch to work winches day and night, as required, Charterers agreeing to pay owners for all officers and crews overtime working cargo * *

Pursuant to the charter, the shipowner provided Eastern Minerals Co., Inc. with the S. S. Edison Mariner for use in New Orleans beginning on August 21, 1958. Eastern loaded in Louisiana a full cargo of salt for New Haven and Boston. On this first voyage, Eastern used its own employees and cranes to discharge the vessel at Boston.

Then, in accordance with Eastern’s direction, the vessel sailed back to New Orleans and Tampa, Florida. In New Orleans she loaded a cargo of salt and in Tampa she loaded super phosphate. The ship discharged part of its cargo in New Haven. Eastern directed the vessel to proceed to a dock near its premises at 37 Marginal Street, Boston. The S. S. Edison Mariner arrived at Chelsea and on September 30, 1958 at 2 p. m. began to discharge.

Immediately on the vessel’s arrival, the International Longshoreman’s Association, a labor organization which had no contract relations with Eastern but which was seeking to organize Eastern’s employees and to represent them in collective bargaining with Eastern, threw a picket line outside the gate of Eastern’s premises and in front of its dock. The I. L. A. had no dispute with, or relations with, the shipowner. But the members of the crew of the S. S. Edison Mariner, because of the picket line, declined to make steam available to the winches, to operate any booms on the vessel, or in any way to participate in the unloading of the vessel.

Thereupon the officers of Eastern themselves and some other persons used an Eastern crane and cranes which Eastern procured from third parties to unload the salt at Chelsea.

If there had been steam in the winches, and if the crew had been willing to work the booms, it would have been possible physically but at great inconvenience and with probable loss of salt to unload the salt at the Chelsea dock by using the winches and booms. Such use of the winches and booms in Chelsea by Eastern would have been unprecedented. And, as a fact, the Court finds that Eastern would not have used the winches and booms had they been available.

Orally, on or about October 2, Ma-honey, as president of Eastern, asked the Captain to sail the vessel from Chelsea to New Haven with a view to unloading the salt in Connecticut and thus escaping the consequences of the picket line. However, no order was given in writing in accordance with paragraph 11 of the time charter. And neither by usage nor otherwise had the shipowner waived the stipulation that directions should be in writing. Indeed telegrams later sent by the charterer indicate that it knew that a writing was indispensable to a binding direction.

The captain of the vessel, knowing his crew would be unlikely to sail the vessel [604]*604to New Haven for the purpose of avoiding the pickets, did not respond favorably to Mahoney’s oral request.

Then Mahoney on October 2 telegraphed the Captain to move the vessel at the Chelsea dock to a berth 20 feet forward to the Eastern premises. Later Mahoney made additional oral requests for a change of berthing on October 7 and 14. However, the Captain, mindful of the crew’s unwillingness to help Eastern’s officers in their attempts to minimize the effects of the I. L. A. pickets, did not move the vessel. But the officers of. Eastern, using their own assistants, by labor which took only 2% hours did move the vessel on October 13 to the berth that they regarded as appropriate.

From September 30 to October 7 the Masters, Mates, and Mariners Union, a labor organization to which some of the crew of the S. S. Edison Mariner belonged, did strike against the owners of certain vessels. But this strike was in no way a cause of, a motive for, or a fact in any way related to the unwillingness of the crew of the S. S. Edison Mariner to make steam available to the winches of the S. S. Edison Mariner, to operate its booms, to move it from one berth to another, or to participate in the unloading of the salt.

The charterer, Eastern, not having paid on September 30 to the shipowner the prepayable charges then due from Eastern to the shipowner, the shipowner brought in this Court on October 2, 1958 a libel for such sums then due. Simultaneously, the shipowner requested the United States Marshal to attach the vessel and cargo and prevent the vessel from discharging the cargo. The Marshal took the requested action on October 6 at 18:30 p. m. And the Marshal’s deputies continued to prevent the discharge of cargo until October 7, at 12:30 p. m., when the shipowner informed the Marshal that further stoppage of discharge of cargo was not desired.

On October 15 at 10:15 a. m. the shipowner filed a complaint seeking to recover charter hire and other items which in its view had been incurred by the charterer since October 2 when the libel was filed. The complaint was filed at a time when, under the terms of the time charter the charter hire for October 16 (the day after the complaint) was already due and payable.

October 16, 1958 the S. S. Edison Mariner was finally completely unloaded, and the charter terminated. Until the very end of the unloading, the I. L. A. continued to picket Eastern.

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167 F. Supp. 601, 1958 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3460, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/edison-steamship-corp-v-eastern-minerals-inc-mad-1958.