Philadelphia Electric Co. v. Curtis Bay Towing Co. of Pennsylvania

260 F. Supp. 505, 1966 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8023
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedOctober 13, 1966
Docket41, 43 of 1961
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 260 F. Supp. 505 (Philadelphia Electric Co. v. Curtis Bay Towing Co. of Pennsylvania) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Philadelphia Electric Co. v. Curtis Bay Towing Co. of Pennsylvania, 260 F. Supp. 505, 1966 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8023 (E.D. Pa. 1966).

Opinion

FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW, AND ORDER

BODY, District Judge.

This consolidated suit, in Admiralty, involves claims for damage to the Barge ELECTRIC #20 and the loss of part of its cargo of coal as a result of a stranding in the vicinity of Windy Point (Greenwich) Coal Pier on December 22, 1959, while in the tow of the tug J. H. DEINLEIN, operated by Curtis Bay Towing Company of Pennsylvania.

Two libels were filed against Curtis Bay by Philadelphia Electric Company (owner of the coal) and Oliver Transportation Company (owner of ELECTRIC #20) for their alleged damage.

Curtis Bay impleaded the United States of America and three dredging companies — American Dredging Corn-pany, The Arundel Corporation, and Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company, At a pretrial conference in this matter, The Arundel Corporation and Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company were dismissed from the suit.

The two actions were consolidated for a trial which was held before me without a jury from December 6, 1965 to January 27, 1966. Counsel for the respective parties submitted extensive requests for Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.

Having reviewed those proposals, the Court now enters the following Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law. Any requested Findings and Conclusions which are inconsistent with those enumerated, infra, are considered rejected.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Philadelphia Electric Company (“Philadelphia Electric”), libellant in No. 41 of 1961, was at all times material hereto an electric utility corporation engaged in the manufacture and sale of electricity, which operated power plants in Philadelphia and Chester, Pennsylvania, in which coal was used for fuel.

2. Libellants in No. 43 of 1961, Margaret C. Walling, Ritner E. Walling and Richard C. Walling, co-partners trading as Oliver Transportation Company (“Walling”), were at all times material hereto engaged in the business of operating barges for the transportation of coal between points on the Delaware River, particularly the Windy Point coal pier in Philadelphia and Chester, Pennsylvania.

3. Curtis Bay Towing Company oi Pennsylvania, Inc. (“Curtis Bay”), the claimant-respondent in Nos. 41 and 43 of 1961, is a corporation having its principal place of business in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At all times material hereto Curtis Bay operated a fleet of tugboats, including the J. H. DEINLEIN, under bareboat charter, providing towing services between various ports and other places on the Delaware River, including *508 Windy Point coal pier, Philadelphia, and Chester, Pennsylvania.

4. The United States of America (“Government”), impleaded respondent in Nos. 41 and 43 of 1961, is a sovereign which has, by the Suits in Admiralty Act, consented to be sued in the instant action. The Government was impleaded for alleged failure to maintain Buoy 39 on its charted position in the Delaware River below the Windy Point coal pier over a period of approximately one year and for the alleged failure to replace it on station after notice on four separate occasions in 1959 prior to December 22, 1959, the date of stranding.

5. American Dredging Company (“American Dredging”), impleaded respondent in Nos. 41 and 43 of 1961, is a Pennsylvania corporation having its principal place of business in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was engaged in dredging and in the operation of derricks and salvage equipment at all times material hereto. From February 1959 to March 1960 it was, pursuant to a contract with the United States Army Engineers and a dumping permit, engaged in dumping dredged rock in an area extending from the Pennsylvania shore of the Delaware River below the Windy Point coal pier off the Philadelphia Naval Base to a line in the river, west and outside of the channel of the river. American Dredging was impleaded for alleged dumping of rock within the limits of the river channel in violation of the United States Army Engineer’s permit and because said rock allegedly created an unlawful obstruction to navigation.

6. On December 22, 1959, Walling owned the steel hull, rectangular shaped, raked end Barge ELECTRIC #20, 170 feet long, 40 feet wide, with a midships depth of 17 feet, and, because of elevation of the deck ends, a depth of 18 feet 6 inches at either end. The barge, which had a single cargo hold of 2600 tons capacity, was without propulsion or steering and was manned by a bargee who tended its lines and checked its condition. The bargee, who was employed by Walling, lived in a house on the stern of the barge.

7. The steel hull tug J. H. DEIN-LEIN (146 gross, 99 net tons) is 81.1 feet in length, 24 feet in beam, with a depth of 9.8 feet, and powered by a 700 h. p. diesel engine. It had a magnetic compass in its wheelhouse and a compass card giving the compass error on different headings.

8. On the morning of December 22, 1959 the Barge ELECTRIC #20, having approximately 30 tons of bituminous coal on board, was additionally loaded with 2381 tons of coal owned by Philadelphia Electric. This loading process took place at the coal dumper on the upriver side of the Windy Point coal pier, located on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River, just above the Philadelphia Naval Base and approximately at the upper end of the East Horseshoe Range.

9. Upon completion of the loading of the coal, the Barge ELECTRIC #20 was properly trimmed, with a slight drag to stern, and in all respects seaworthy.

10. On December 22, 1959, Curtis Bay, for pursuant to an arrangement with Walling to tow Walling’s barges, assigned the tug J. H. DEINLEIN (“DEINLEIN”) to tow the Barge ELECTRIC #20 from Windy Point coal pier to Chester, Pennsylvania. Thus tug, with Curtis Bay relief captain Vincent Kelly (“Kelly”) in charge, arrived at the Windy Point coal pier at about 10:05 A.M. on December 22, 1959 and tied up nearby to await the completion of the loading.

11. When the barge was loaded, the DEINLEIN, pursuant to radio-telephone orders from Curtis Bay’s dispatcher, made fast to the starboard quarter of the barge. Kelly secured the barge to the túg with three heavy manila lines which were stretched taut before the towing got under way and which required no further adjustment.

12. The draft of the barge was between 16% and 17 feet. Kelly did not know the draft of the barge at the com *509 mencement of the tow. This draft could have been ascertained by subtracting the freeboard from the barge’s depth. However, Kelly admitted he did not know the depth of the barge and therefore would have had no definite figure from which to subtract the freeboard in order to arrive at an accurate draft. On cross-examination Kelly testified that he was figuring on between 15 and 16 feet of draft for purposes of navigation.

13. Captain Kelly, an experienced navigator on the Delaware River, held a first-class pilot’s license issued by the U. S. Coast Guard for the Delaware River and Bay, and has served on tugs on that river since 1950. Kelly had towed loaded coal barges from Windy Point to Chester about fifty times per year since 1955. It was customary to tow the coal barges on an ebb tide and certain contract rates were prescribed for such towage.

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260 F. Supp. 505, 1966 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8023, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/philadelphia-electric-co-v-curtis-bay-towing-co-of-pennsylvania-paed-1966.