The H. & S. No. 3.

243 F. 725, 1917 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1162
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Washington
DecidedFebruary 20, 1917
DocketNo. 3394
StatusPublished

This text of 243 F. 725 (The H. & S. No. 3.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
The H. & S. No. 3., 243 F. 725, 1917 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1162 (W.D. Wash. 1917).

Opinion

NETERER, District Judge.

[1] On the 25th day of January, 1916, the claimant, sole owner of scow H. & S. No. 3, for a cash consideration of $2,400, payable monthly at the rate of $100 per month, chartered the scow to the Bailey Transportation Company of Seattle. It was provided in the charter party agreement that certain improvements should be made upon the scow by the lessee at its expense, and it ivas further provided that the lessee should save the claimant, owner, “harmless from any and all claims resulting from maritime accidents, collisions, stranding, or damage by the scow to other vessels, and in the event of loss of said scow, the party of the second part [lessee] agrees to pay the party of the first part [owner] the súm of $3,000.” Pursuant to this agreement the scow was delivered to the Bailey Transportation Company. Thereafter, in May, 1916, Kaiser, intervening libelant, owner of 3,500 tons of cement located at Bellingham., Wash., contracted with libelant to transport by water from Bellingham to Ebbey Slough, Snohomish county, this cement, for which he agreed to pay 65 cents per ton. In June following libelant contracted with Bailey Transportation Company for the transportation of 380 tons of Kaiser’s cement. Bailey, for the Bailey Transportation Company, left Seattle with a scow belonging to the claimant, but demised to Bailey, for Bellingham, and while en route, unknown to libelant, the scow struck a pile or stick of timber and was rendered unseaworthy. Upon arriving at Bellingham, Bailey undertook to remedy the damage done to the scow, and made some repairs, and then loaded upon the scow 380 tons of cement and proceeded to Ebbey Slough, and while en route, by reason of the unseaworthy condition of the scow, it filled and stranded, and the cement became a total loss. After the cement was loaded on the scow at Bellingham, there was no stress of weather or peril of [727]*727navigation which contributed to the scow’s unseaworthiness or to the loss of the cement. Libelant rendered service in salving and towing tlie scow from the place of stranding to Seattle, of the reasonable value of $700. After the stranding, Kaiser, in his books, charged libelant with the value of the cement lost. Libelant made no corresponding credit on its hooks. Thereafter libelant advanced to Kaiser the sum of $1,800 on account of the loss, which Kaiser on his books credited to libelant. Libelant transported the remaining portion of the cement pursuant to its contract, and since the loss of tlie 380 tons of cement has earned $2,473, which amount Kaiser has credited on his hooks to libelant, and has not paid libelant the same. The scow was damaged by stranding to the extent of $200. Intervening libelant, Nelson, has a claim against the scow for towage rendered prior to stranding, and on voyage when stranded, in a balance of $307.15. Tlie amount due lor towage on the particular trip when the scow-stranded was $75. The value of the cement lost was $3,960.

Upon the facts thus established libelant contends that it is subrogated to the rights of Kaiser, the owner of the cement, in the sum of $1,800 advanced, and the further sum of $2,160, balance of $3,960, the value of the cargo lost. Nelson, intervening libelant, contends that he is entitled 1:o a lien on the scow for the full amount of the unpaid tow-age charge for services rendered in towing the damaged scow; this being a lien which is given him under the laws of Washington. Rem. & Ral. Code, § 1187. This contention the libelant refutes, asserting that tlie statutes of a state cannot override the general maritime law, and that the lieu for wages earned prior to collision is inferior to the lien for damages caused by the collision. The Evolution (D. C.) 199 Fed. 514. Tlie claimant contends that, the demise of the vessel being made with the condition that the owner of tlie scow shall be held harmless from all claims by reason of collisions, etc., any arrangement made by the libelant with the dernisee was made subject to this condition, and that the scow could not be held for any damage which might be occasioned to the shipper, and further contends that, the libelant having assumed responsibility for the damage and having settled the same with Kaiser, and having paid $1,800 on account in cash, and the balance being paid- by freight earned, it has no standing in court and was not subrogated to any rights which Kaiser might have had, and further that the Bailey Transportation Company was acting merely as agent for the libelant and the libelant itself was the principal, and the scow being seaworthy at the time it was delivered in Seattle, no claim can be asserted in any event.

I think an analysis of the relations of the parties would, without dispute, show that, as between libelant and Kaiser, libelant was the shipper and Bailey the carrier; that Bailey, as the carrier for libel-ant, and the scow, are charged with all the carrier’s liability as completely as libelant is charged as a carrier for Kaiser; that the Bailey Transportation Company was owner pro hac vice, and that the scow would be holden for damage to the cargo; and that, while libelant is liable to Kaiser for the negligence of Bailey and tlie unseaworthiness of the scow, by the same token Bailey and the scow are liable to libel-[728]*728ant for the negligence of Bailey and the unseaworthiness of the scow. There being no stipulation to the contrary, the libelant had a right to rely on the scow being seaworthy. The Carib Prince, 170 U. S. 655, 18 Sup. Ct. 753, 42 L. Ed. 1181. The proof is further beyond dispute that the unseaworthy condition of the scow at Bellingham was at all times unknown to libelant until subsequent to the stranding. It is alleged, and the proofs establish, that the cement wás delivered at Bellingham June 26th in good condition on board the scow for transportation ; that at the time of the delivery the scow was not seaworthy. The implied warranty as to its seaworthiness as between Bailey and libelant was thus violated, and, while the scow left Seattle to obtain this cargo at Bellingham, it cannot be successfully contended that any relation to the trip could attach to the libelant until the delivery of the cement at Bellingham. While it is true that tire libelant agreed to furnish a complete cargo, it was not in any sense a demise of the scow. The relation of the libelant, therefore, was not that of owner pro hac vice, but rather that of a shipper, and was entitled to the guaranties which the law affords in such relations. The Bailey Transportation Company hired the scow, employed all of the help-, bore all of the expenses, and became, therefore, the owner pro hac vice. The New York (D. C.) 93 Fed. 495. The libelant, being ignorant of the provisions of the charter party, and no circumstances being presented which would place it upon its inquiry, I think, had a right to rely on the uniform rule that the vessel and the cargo are reciprocally bound to each other. The Maggie Hammond, 9 Wallace, 76 U. S. 435, 19 L. Ed. 772. And, being thus bound, the scow became liable to the cargo for any damage, and the cargo to the scow for any obligations of transportation. Nor does the Harter Act (Act Feb. 13, 1893, c. 105, 27 Stat. 445 [Comp. St. 1916, §§ 8029-8035]) afford any relief to the claimant, the scow being bound to the cargo and the casualty being occasioned by unseaworthiness. The Carib Prince, supra; The Sylvia, 171 U. S. 462, 19 Sup. Ct. 7, 43 L. Ed. 241. And this applies, even though the vessel is engaged in domestic trade. Knott v.

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Bluebook (online)
243 F. 725, 1917 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1162, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/the-h-s-no-3-wawd-1917.