Flagship Marine Services, Inc. v. Belcher Towing Company

966 F.2d 602 (11th Cir. 1992)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

The tug E.N. Belcher, Jr. was pushing a tow made up of two empty barges that were lashed together. At approximately 3:00 a.m. the crew responded to an alarm and discovered that the vessel was rapidly taking on water. The tug had struck an unidentified submerged object. The tug's captain, William Diamond, advised the Coast Guard of both the incident and the observed damage. The Coast Guard then notified the Ft. Myers Fire Department, the Cape Coral Fire Department, the Cape Coral Police Department, and P. The tug maneuvered the two barges into the shallows and wedged each barge, parallel to the shore, among mangrove trees. Captain Diamond and the crew of the E.N. Belcher, Jr. then proceeded to intentionally run the tug aground. Captain Diamond tried to ground his vessel as far up the beach as possible. With the tug and barges apparently beached, the captain and crew of the tug then collected their belongings and stepped from the deck of the tug onto the adjacent barge. A few minutes later, Captain Diamond reboarded the listing tug and awaited assistance. The E.N. Belcher, Jr. was not an abandoned, derelict vessel. The Coast Guard arrived placing an eductor and two P1 pumps aboard the tug. At approximately 4:00 a.m., the Cape Coral Fire Department arrived with two additional pumps, each capable of pumping 200 gallons per minute. Shortly thereafter, the Ft. Myers Fire Department arrived with a 200-gallon-per-minute pump and a 1,000-gallon-per-minute pump. The Cape Coral Police Department also rendered assistance to the tug, but the department was not equipped with pumps. P's first vessel arrived at approximately 4:15 a.m. Three P vessels would provide the tug with assistance and up to six additional pumps. Captain Diamond delayed P's representative from starting his work on the tug and asked him how much P's services would cost. P's representative, Captain Donald Robinson, responded: 'We'll worry about it later.' Captain Diamond told P to do whatever was necessary to save the tug. P had a prior relationship with D and had previously charged for salvage work on a flat running rate basis, and Captain Diamond normally paid for such salvage services. Nearly one dozen pumps of various sizes were at work. The barges drifted off the beach with the change of tide, and a number of vessels responded in a fifteen to thirty-minute cooperative effort that easily pushed the barges back to their initial grounded state. Captain Robinson, one of P's salvors, then managed to place a temporary patch of cushions, rags, and wood pieces over the gash that had breached the integrity of the tug's hull. When the tug was refloated, P, using contract divers, placed a more permanent exterior patch over the gash in the tug's hull. P also deployed precautionary oil booms and stood by to render assistance for several hours after the E.N. Belcher, Jr. had been patched. P sued D for voluntary salvage. The court awarded $125,000 and D appealed.