United States v. Cargo Salvage Corp.

FEINBERG, District Judge.

This is a declaratory judgment action brought by the United States to determine whether it or respondent Cargo Salvage Corporation has the right to cargo aboard a wrecked vessel on the bottom of Lake Huron. For reasons indicated below, the Court concludes that the cargo belongs to respondent.

The S.S. Monrovia, a Liberian ship, with a cargo of steel,1 sank in the Lake as a result of a collision with the S.S. Royalton on June 25, 1959. The ship went down to the west of the westerly limit of the heavily trafficked2 down-bound lane 3 of the Lake. From a survey of the…