Mobile Towing & Wrecking Co. v. Dredge

299 F. Supp. 358, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10992
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Florida
DecidedMay 8, 1969
DocketCiv. A. No. 976
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 299 F. Supp. 358 (Mobile Towing & Wrecking Co. v. Dredge) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mobile Towing & Wrecking Co. v. Dredge, 299 F. Supp. 358, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10992 (N.D. Fla. 1969).

Opinion

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW PREFACE

CARSWELL, Chief Judge.

In the predawn blackness of October 2, 1963', an unnamed and unmanned derrick barge in tow simply vanished from the face of the sea. This tale of the vanished vessel has an aura of mystery which only the open sea can conjure but lacks the elements of heroism and cruelty which would inspire a Conrad or a Hemingway. It is a mini-saga of the sea scarcely rendered less mysterious by the necessity of this Court to glean from the evidence the probabilities of what happened. With a few more facts — which are not on the record — and with a less formal and restricted format, this might well be the subject of an intriguing short sea story. As it is, however, with renewed respect for the reputation of the sea for guarding its secrets well, and this Court being confronted with the explicit requirements of Rule 52, the following findings of fact and conclusions of law are hereby entered.

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

A derrick barge disappeared in the Gulf of Mexico about 25 miles west of Anclote Key at approximately 5:30 A.M. on October 2, 1963. Before the loss the barge, along with the dredge. CHICKASAW, was in tow of the tug COMMODORE on a voyage from Boca Grande, Florida, to St. Marks, Florida. The dredge CHICKASAW, and the derrick barge, nameless and numberless, were owned by McCullough Industries, Inc., and had been since May, 1962, bare-boat chartered to Gulf States Dredging Company, Inc. The tug COMMODORE was owned by Mobile Towing & Wrecking Company. The towage was undertaken pursuant to a contract between Gulf States and Mobile Towing.

This litigation was commenced by the filing of a libel for tow hire by Mobile Towing against the dredge CHICKASAW. Gulf States answered the libel, as owner pro hac vice of the dredge, and filed a cross-libel against Mobile Towing claiming damages for the loss of the derrick barge, the loss of use of the derrick barge and other incidental expenses, asserting negligence on the part of Mobile Towing as the basis of recovery. Mobile Towing answered the cross-libel denying negligence and denying liability to Gulf States.

On September 8, 1967, the Court entered an -order confirming its ruling at the pre-trial conference in favor of libelant Mobile Towing and against the libelee dredge CHICKASAW and Gulf States 'providing that the libelant had prevailed in its contract action for tow hire and was entitled to recover tow hire in the amount of Five Thousand Eight Hundred Thirty-Eight and 53/100 Dollars ($5,-838.53), together with costs in the amount of Seventy-Nine and 08/100 Dollars ($79.08) and a reasonable attorney’s fee in the amount of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000).

The case was tried upon numerous depositions and the testimony of some ten witnesses who appeared in person at the trial.

Inter alia, the following facts were stipulated to by the parties:

“On 1 May 1962 Gulf States Dredging Company, as Charterer, entered into a Barge Charter Party with McCullough Industries, as owner, for the hire of the Dredge Chickasaw and ‘attendant Plant’, including the unnamed derrick barge described in said Charter as ‘Steel Derrick Barge 25'6“' x 66'8'3"’ (Stip. (a) p. 2).”
“On 1 October 1963 the Tug Commodore took the Dredge Chickasaw and an unnamed derrick barge in tow at Boca Grande, Florida, and proceeded towards St. Marks, Florida. The tow had previously been brought to Boca Grande, Florida, by another tug ar[360]*360ranged for by Gulf States Dredging Company.” (Stip. (f) p. 21)
“The tow hawser from the Commodore to the Chickasaw was of two-inch diameter wire and was so adjusted that its length was between 800 and 1,000 feet. The intermediate hawser connecting the Chickasaw and the derrick barge was of eight-inch circumference nylon rope approximately 1,000 feet in length. Two-inch diameter wire two-legged bridles, approximately 70 feet in length, connected the main tow hawser to the Chickasaw and the Chickasaw to the hawser leading to the barge. 45-foot bridles connected the derrick barge to the intermediate hawser.” (Stip. (1) p. 4)
“On 3 October 1965 the Dredge Chickasaw was delivered by the Tug Commodore and Mobile Towing and Wrecking Company to Gulf States Dredging Company off the entrance of St. Marks, Florida.” (Stip. (h) p. 4)
“The exact times of getting under way, arriving, etc., are as noted in the log book of the Tug Commodore. * * 'x
4. Tug Commodore secured to tow 10/1/63, 0810 hours;
5. Tug Commodore under way with tow 10/1/63, 0950 hours;
6. Tug Commodore and tow took departure off Boca Grande, 10/1/63, 1118 hours.
7. Personnel on Tug Commodore advised by radio by personnel on •Dredge Chickasaw that derrick barge was missing 10/2/63, 0545 hours.”
(Stip. (i) p. 3)

The daily dredge reports show that the derrick barge and the dredge CHICKASAW left the job at which they had been working in West Palm Beach on or about September 21, 1963, and were towed to Punta Rassa, near Fort Myers, Florida, through the inland waterway, by another towing concern. The flotilla arrived at the Punta Rassa area on September 24, 1963; and remained there until September 30, 1963, when the tug BELLE OF MYERS, owned by a third towing company took the dredge and the barge in tow to bring them to' Boca Grande, Florida, where they arrived early on the morning of October 1, 1963. During the layover at Punta Rassa the dredge and the barge were made ready for the prospective tow to St. Marks, Florida. The layover period was protracted because of heavy weather in the Gulf of Mexico. All concerned seem to have agreed that the voyage to St. Marks should not commence. The tug COMMODORE was at Boca Grande, Florida, from September 27, 1963, awaiting the arrival of its tow and improvement of the weather.

The derrick barge had been drydocked in August, 1963, at Lantana, Florida, at which time her bottom was scraped and painted and certain routine repairs were accomplished. Home Insurance Company Surveyor Kirby Roberts testified upon deposition that at West Palm Beach he examined the derrick barge with a view to ascertaining her fitness for the impending tow in the Gulf. Several days prior to September 30th, while the derrick barge was at Punta Rassa, he inspected her again and recommended certain further work to ready her for sea. On at least one occasion when Roberts was on board the derrick barge, Captain Edward F. Quinn, Master of the tug COMMODORE, was also present on the barge and made suggestions for additional pre-voyage preparations. The recommendations for pre-voyage preparations were carried out. It also seems to be uncontroverted that the derrick barge appeared to be seaworthy and fit to make the tow and was so considered by all of those who examined or saw her prior to departure. (Roberts’ deposition pages 40, 52, 53; Quinn deposition pages 13, 14, 76; Wilson depositions page 25; Johnson deposition pages 102, 103.)

The flotilla was rigged for the tow at anchorage at Boca Grande, Florida, on October 1, 1963. The dredge CHICKASAW, which was to be the lead vessel in the tow, was connected to the COMMODORE’S tow hawser by two steel wire [361]

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299 F. Supp. 358, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10992, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mobile-towing-wrecking-co-v-dredge-flnd-1969.