Western Pacific Fisheries, Inc. v. SS President Grant

730 F.2d 1280
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit·Decided April 11, 1984·No. Nos. 82-4726, 83-1523·Published·Cited by 33 cases

Opinion

DUNIWAY, Circuit Judge:

This case involves a collision at sea between the SS PRESIDENT GRANT and the fishing vessel MARTIN HIGGINS, which sank. After a trial of the claim of the HIGGINS’ insurers against the GRANT and her owner, American President Lines, the district court found the [1282]*1282GRANT to be 85% at fault in the collision and the HIGGINS 15% at fault, and assessed damages accordingly. The GRANT appeals, and we affirm.

On cross-appeal, the HIGGINS contends that the district court erred under the “Major-Minor Fault Rule” in allocating 15% of the fault to her. Again, we affirm. The HIGGINS also contends that the district court abused its discretion in awarding prejudgment interest at the rate of 8%. We agree, and remand to the district court to redetermine the pre-judgment interest award.

I. FACTS.

The fog was thick in the approach to San Francisco’s Golden Gate on October 22, 1980. Visibility was 100 to 200 yards. The HIGGINS, an 80-foot fishing boat, was outbound from Fisherman’s Wharf. When she entered the fog, she reduced her speed from 11 or 12 knots to 4 or 5 knots. She had radar, which she was using. Meanwhile, the GRANT, an 820-foot container ship, was headed inbound at sea speed, about 18 knots. At this rate, she travelled 100 to 200 yards in 10 to 20 seconds. From her bridge, the look-out could not see through the fog beyond her bow. The GRANT had a highly qualified crew and extensive radar capacity, most of which she did not use. At 1:48 p.m. (1348), about four miles outside the Gate, the GRANT struck and sank the HIGGINS. A lifeboat from the GRANT rescued the HIGGINS’ two crew members.

The owners, underwriters, and crew of the HIGGINS sued the GRANT and her owner, American President Lines, in federal district court. The HIGGINS’ owner, Western Pacific Fisheries, settled its claims for uninsured losses. The crew members, Block and Matthews, settled their claims for personal injuries. After a ten-day trial, the district court awarded 85% of the HIGGINS’ $485,000 insured value, plus $1,200 paid to a diver to see if the wreck obstructed navigation, plus 8% pre-judgment interest, to the underwriters. The district court denied the GRANT’S motion to reopen the trial to hear evidence of marijuana trafficking by the HIGGINS.

Four issues are presented:

1. Whether certain findings as to the fault of the GRANT are clearly erroneous and require reversal.

2. Whether it was error to refuse to let the GRANT show that the HIGGINS was transporting marijuana.

3. Whether it was error to refuse to apply the “Major-Minor Fault Rule” and to find the HIGGINS 15% at fault.

4. Whether it was error to use an 8% rate in awarding pre-judgment interest.

We set out the facts in more detail in considering the first issue.

II. FINDINGS OF FACT AS TO THE COLLISION.

A traffic separation scheme establishes lanes, marked by buoys and on charts, for incoming and outgoing ships in the San Francisco Main Ship Channel. The GRANT claims that she was properly in the incoming (south) lane before and at the time- of the collision. The HIGGINS claimed, and the district court found, that the GRANT was in the wrong, outgoing (north) lane and that the collision occurred in the outgoing lane. On appeal, the GRANT’S principal argument is that the district court clearly erred in making this finding of fact. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a). We quote the most pertinent portions of Judge Patel’s careful and detailed findings of fact:

The exact location of the collision, which occurred near the entrance of the San Francisco Bay, has been the subject of much conflicting testimony and is still in doubt. Plaintiff’s expert, Captain Robert Slack, after several depositions, calculations, and recalculations, came up with at least five different tracks, or courses, for the Grant. Another expert, David Sears, using a radar simulator arrived at another track and location of the collision. Dr. William Webster, defendant’s expert, reached a different conclusion and, in the [1283]*1283process, his work yielded at least two different tracks. (ER 86)
Despite sophisticated equipment and well-trained, experienced personnel, there is insufficient data from which to conclude with certainty the Grant’s course. Chief Officer McCloud summed it up best when he testified that “there weren’t but a couple of people even on the ship, I think, that had any knowledge where the ship was.” (Deposition 62:20-22) Surprisingly, in light of these variances, the tracks suggested by each of the experts are relatively close. It is not necessary for this Court to completely resolve the mystery of the courses taken by the Grant and the Higgins and the exact location of the collision in order to determine whether plaintiff has established liability by a preponderance of the evidence. (ER 87)

THE CONDUCT OF THE HIGGINS.

Blocker [one of the owners of the HIGGINS] was at the radar and manning the wheel nearly all of the time, including' all times after the Grant was picked up on the radar. When he started out from the fuel dock the radar was on the 12-mile range. He changed to the 6-mile range and finally to the 3-mile range as the Grant approached. He took two radar fixes prior to the collision. He could see the channel buoys on the radar but could not see all of them all of the time.
The Higgins was proceeding at approximately 11 to 12 knots through the water until it encountered fog. It then reduced its speed to 4 or 5 knots, which, with the 2 to 3 knot current, gave it a speed of 6 to 8 knots over the ground. (ER 90)
The Higgins was outside the fog when it first sighted the Grant just outside the buoy channel. Blocker observed the Grant coming through the buoy channel. At first it appeared to be in the center of the channel. Then it appeared to be going north into the outbound lane. The Higgins at all times prior to the collision remained in the outbound lane north of the separation line.
Blocker first determined a possible risk of collision at 4 to 5 miles from the Grant. He never marked the Grant’s position or plotted to determine course and speed. At 3 miles off the Grant the Higgins made a 15° course change to the right; at one quarter mile distance it made a 10° right course change. It still appeared as if the vessels were bow to bow. Two or three seconds before the collision the Higgins visually sighted the Grant. The Higgins never executed a hard right or any port turns. (ER 91)

THE CONDUCT OF THE GRANT.

No one person was assigned radar watch. Third Mate Miles and Captain Colivas took turns observing it; neither of them was at the radar continuously.
The 10-cm radar had true motion capability, that is, the radar displays vessels, including own ship, moving at their true courses and speeds. Objects having no motion appear stationary. The 10-cm radar was also equipped with an automatic plotting device, which could be operated only when the stabilized relative motion mode was in use. On the day in question the 10-cm radar was in the unstabilized, head-up relative mode.

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Western Pacific Fisheries, Inc. v. SS President Grant, 730 F.2d 1280 (9th Cir. 1984).

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