TUGBOAT OWNER WAS PROPERLY EXONERATED UNDER THE FORMER LIMITATION OF SHIPOWNER'S LIABILITY ACT FROM LIABILITY ARISING FROM A COLLISION BETWEEN THE TUG AND A SHIP; THE RECORD SUPPORTED A FINDING THAT THE PILOTING OF THE TUG WAS NOT NEGLIGENT AND THAT THE S
IN THE MATTER OF THE COMPLAINT OF MORAN TOWING CORPORATION, AS OWNER OF THE TUG JOHN TURECAMO, FOR EXONERATION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY; JOMAR SHIPPING & TRADING, INC. & KRISTEN NAVIGATION, INC., Appellants.
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 18686
August 7, 2007, Filed
PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Appellee tugboat owner sued appellants, a shipowner and the ship's manager, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania under the former Limitation of Shipowners Liability Act, 46 U.S.C.S. § 183 et seq. (repealed 2006). The district court exonerated the tugboat owner from liability in connection with a collision. Appellants sought review.
OVERVIEW: Appellants claimed that the tugboat owner was liable for damages arising from a collision between a ship and a tugboat. The collision occurred while a docking pilot was attempting to slow the ship to execute docking maneuvers; the tugboat took emergency corrective action and collided with the ship's propellers. The court of appeals found that the record supported the district court's finding that the docking pilot was an independent contractor who was subject to the control of the ship's master and not the tugboat owner at the time of the collision. Also, the district court's finding that the piloting of the tugboat was not negligent was not clearly erroneous; sheer on the part of the ship indicated that the operation of the ship and not the tugboat was negligent. An expert testified that the docking pilot improperly pre-positioned the tugboat and should have ordered the tug to clear away once he realized that the ship was traveling too fast.
OUTCOME: The district court's judgment was affirmed.
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