WHERE LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FILED BY SHIPOWNER
WHERE LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FILED BY SHIPOWNER, CLAIMANT MUST FIRST BEAR BURDEN AT TRIAL BY PUTTING FORTH EVIDENCE OF NEGLIGENCE OR UNSEAWORTHINESS BEFORE THE BURDEN SHIFTS TO SHIPOWNER TO ESTABLISH THAT THEY WERE NOT PRIVY TO, NOR HAD ANY KNOWLEDGE OF, THE ACT OF NEGLIGENCE OR UNSEAWORTHINESS
In the Matter of the Complaint of MORAN TOWING CORPORATION, MORAN ATLANTIC TOWING CORPORATION and MORAN TOWING AND TRANSPORTATION CO., INC.as Owners or Bareboat Charterers of the Tug HEIDE MORAN, for Exoneration from or Limitation of Liability. In the Matter of the complaint of MORAN ENTERPRISES CORPORATION, MEC I, INC., MORAN TOWING AND TRANSPORTATION CO., INC., MORANTOWING CORPORATION, PETROLEUM TRANSPORT CORPORATION and SEABOARD BARGE CORPORATION, as Owners or Bareboat Charterers of the Barge TEXAS, for Exoneration from or Limitation of Liability.
CV 97-1647 (ADS), CV 97-2272 (ADS)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
166 F. Supp. 2d 773; 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16869
October 16, 2001, Decided
PRIOR HISTORY: None.
DISPOSITION: Motion for order directing petitioners to proceed first at trial was denied.
PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Petitioner owners filed two limitation petitions seeking exoneration from or limitation of liability, pursuant to the Limitation of Liability Act, 46 U.S.C.S. ยง 183 et seq., on behalf of two vessels. Claimants filed claims against the owners in both actions seeking damages for repair of the submarine electrical cables. Claimants filed a motion requesting a finding that the owners be required to present their proof first at trial.
OVERVIEW: The determination of whether the owners were entitled to limitation of liability required a two-step analysis. First, the court must have determined what acts of negligence or conditions of unseaworthiness caused the accident. Second, the court must have determined whether the owners had knowledge or privity of those same acts of negligence or conditions of unseaworthiness. The court found that claimants bore the burden of going forward at trial by putting forth evidence that the damage or loss was caused by unseaworthiness or negligence. Provided that claimants succeed in this first stage of the proceeding, the burden would have shifted to the owners to establish that they were not privy to, and had no knowledge of, the decisive act of negligence or condition of unseaworthiness.
OUTCOME: Claimants' motion for order directing the owners to proceed first at trial was denied.
