State Of Louisiana Ex Rel. Guste v. M/V Testbank,

752 F.2d 1019 (5th Cir. 1985)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

The M/V SEA DANIEL and the M/V TESTBANK collided at mile forty-one of the Mississippi River Gulf outlet. A white haze enveloped the ships. It was hydrobromic acid. Containers with twelve tons of pentachlorophenol, PCP, also went overboard. The Coast Guard closed the outlet to navigation until August 10, 1980, and all fishing, shrimping, and related activity was suspended in the outlet and four hundred square miles of surrounding marsh and waterways. Forty-one lawsuits were filed. Claims included shipping interests, marina and boat rental operators, wholesale and retail seafood enterprises not actually engaged in fishing, seafood restaurants, tackle and bait shops, and recreational fishermen. Ds moved for summary judgment as to all claims for economic loss unaccompanied by physical damage to property. The district court granted the motion except those claims asserted by commercial oystermen, shrimpers, crabbers, and fishermen who had been making a commercial use of embargoed waters. The district court found these commercial fishing interests deserving of a special protection akin to that enjoyed by seamen. On appeal a panel of the court affirmed, concluding that claims for economic loss unaccompanied by physical damage to a proprietary interest were not recoverable in maritime tort. The circuit then took the case en banc for review.