Oil Transfer Corp. v. Atlantic Tankers, Ltd.

194 F. Supp. 920, 1960 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4164
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedDecember 15, 1960
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 194 F. Supp. 920 (Oil Transfer Corp. v. Atlantic Tankers, Ltd.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Oil Transfer Corp. v. Atlantic Tankers, Ltd., 194 F. Supp. 920, 1960 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4164 (S.D.N.Y. 1960).

Opinion

MacMAHON, District Judge.

These are cross-libels arising out of a collision between two tankers in the Kill van Kull. The owners of the tankers libelled each other, and Continental Oil Company, the owner of the cargo aboard the Oteo Bayway, libelled the Atlantic Prince, whose owner, Atlantic Tankers, Ltd., in turn, impleaded Oil Transfer Corporation, the owner of the Oteo Bay-way. At the trial, the Court granted a motion to consolidate all three actions under the title of the first action.

At the time of the accident, which occurred about 4:45 a. m. on January 6, 1959, the set of the tide was northwest into the Kill, at the last hour of the flood. The night was cold, with the temperature hovering about 10 degrees, visibility about 5 miles, and the wind was strong from the northwest against the direction of the tide, with a velocity of 20 to 29 miles per hour.

The Atlantic Prince was a fully loaded small super tanker, 551 feet 6 inches long, with a 32 foot draft, bound from the Stapleton anchorage through the Kill van Kull to Linden, New Jersey. She had a 1,000 horsepower tug at each bow, each with a line aboard the Atlantic Prince but neither using her power.

The Oteo Bayway, a smaller single screw tanker, with an overall length of 242 feet 3 inches and a draft of about 12 feet, was adrift broadside in the channel with her bow headed southeast towards Staten Island, between buoys C-l and C-3, about 300 feet west and 100 feet north of buoy C-l, which marked the southern line of the channel.1

The Oteo Bay way’s version of the collision may be stated as follows: The Oteo Bayway left Baltimore, Maryland with a seventeen man crew at about 2:00 a. m. on January 4, 1959, bound for Quincy, Massachusetts, with a cargo of Neolene 400 in three of her seven tanks — tanks 2, 4 and 6. The Oteo Bayway’s engines, instruments and navigational gear had been tested and found operative before she left Baltimore.

As the Oteo Bayway proceeded along the New Jersey coast, she was awash most of the time due to heavy seas and high winds which she encountered. As a result, a large amount of ice encrusted the ship, in some places as much as two feet thick. Enroute, it was decided to put in at Constable Hook, New Jersey in order to take on fuel. The ship passed Scotland Light and entered inland waters at 2:08 a. m. on January 6th.

At about 3:50 a. m., when the ship was off Tompkinsville, Staten Island, the chief mate, Hegna, who was not a licensed pilot, took over the helm on the four-to-eight watch and steered the Oteo Bayway toward the Esso Pier at Constable Hook. Plegna immediately ordered two deck hands to go forward to chop ice from the capstans and windlasses in order to lay out the lines preparatory to tying up at the dock.

Shortly after 4:00 a. m., The Oteo Bayway came to a complete stop between buoys C-l and C-3 and then maneuvered to get into position for docking. As the ship approached the dock, Hegna signaled the engine room to slow and then to stop. Nelson, the engineer on watch, was able to execute each order, except the final order to stop. He advised the bridge that he could not stop the engine, and Hegna ordered a hard right rudder to avoid hitting the dock. The Oteo Bayway then turned about, heading back into the channel.

Chief Engineer Coombs was then summoned, and he disconnected the fuel lines, stopping the vessel at about 4:20 a. m. The Oteo Bayway was then at a point about midway between buoys C-l and C-3 and N-2 and N-4, about 100 yards east of the entrance and about 500 yards [923]*923north of the center line of the Kill van Kull channel. This point is almost 400 yards from the northwest end of the Constable Hook range and about 600 yards from the point of the collision.

Almost immediately after the Oteo Bayway’s engine stopped, Hegna began sounding a series of short blasts and using a searchlight to attract assistance. He also ordered the two men on deck to drop the anchors. Cordes, one of the deck hands, testified that they were unable to free the anchors because both the deck claw holding the chain and the hawser pipe were encrusted with thick ice. The Oteo Bayway had lost way in making the turn and, left to the mercy of the northwest wind, soon began to drift towards Staten Island.

Hegna testified that shortly after the Oteo Bayway stopped, he saw the Atlantic Prince swinging onto the Constable Hook range but did not pay much attention to her because he was sure that she would see the Oteo Bayway. He testified that he assumed the Atlantic Prince would pass the Oteo Bayway’s stern, and that he did hot hear any signals from the Atlantic Prince until she was about 100 feet away when the collision was inevitable. According to Hegna, the collision occurred at 4:44 a. m.

The Atlantic Prince’s version, as one would expect, is somewhat different. Captain Lodden, the pilot aboard the Atlantic Prince, testified that she left the Stapleton anchorage about 4:25 a. m. and reached the Constable Hook range at about 4:35 a. m., where she assumed a 290 degree bearing and proceeded at about five or six knots. The Atlantic Prince was then at a point about a mile and a half southeast of the Oteo Bayway.

Captain Lodden testified on two separate days, and the times which he gave on his second day of testimony, while under cross-examination, will be accepted here.2 He testified that the first saw the red light on the port side of the Oteo Bayway at 4:40 a. m., and that he was unable to distinguish the size of the vessel because of the red and green lights and the oil docks in the background. He also said that he could not see the superstructure or the stern of the Oteo Bayway. At that time, 4:40 a. m., according to Lodden, the Atlantic Prince signaled one blast to indicate an intention to pass astern of the Oteo Bayway. Before receiving a response, the Atlantic Prince swung left preparatory to changing her course to a 240 degree bearing to enter the Kills.

About a minute or two later, the Atlantic Prince signaled two blasts to indicate an intention to cross the bow of the Oteo Bayway. Almost immediately, those aboard the Atlantic Prince heard a number of short blasts from the Oteo Bay-way which, at the same time, illuminated her entire length with the searchlight. About 400 feet then separated the vessels.

The Atlantic Prince was immediately ordered full astern. The tug on her port bow was also ordered full astern. The tug on her starboard bow was ordered ahead, and the Atlantic Prince’s port anchor was dropped. Nevertheless, about three or four minutes later, at 4:46 a. m., according to Captain Lodden, the collision occurred.

There were three other vessels in the immediate area: the tugs Gene Pope and The Hustler, which were proceeding easterly in the Kills; and a large unnamed vessel which was following the Atlantic Prince.

Captain Connard, aboard the Gene Pope, testified that he saw the Oteo Bay-way’s searchlight when about three quarters of a mile west of the Oteo Bay way and heard her signal when he was about a quarter of a mile away. He testified that the use of the searchlight by the Oteo Bayway did not indicate to him that anything was wrong with the vessel, but [924]*924when he heard the short blasts, he proceeded to the Oteo Bay way and was told by someone aboard that she had broken down and needed assistance.

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194 F. Supp. 920, 1960 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4164, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/oil-transfer-corp-v-atlantic-tankers-ltd-nysd-1960.