Inland Tugs Company and American Barge Line Co. v. The Ohio River Company, Defendant-Third Party and United States of America, Defendant-Third Party

KRUPANSKY, Circuit Judge.

This admiralty action joins legal inquiry into the Coast Guard’s exposure to liability, either primary or secondary, for injuries and damages resulting from its failure to mark a privately owned and non-abandoned sunken vessel. On October 24, 1978, Barge OR-39, while in tow of the M/V Pat Cho-tin, sank for reasons unknown in the navigable channel of the Ohio River at Mile 769.4; both Barge OR-39 and its towing vessel were owned and operated by the same date the sunken barge was located and marked with a red aid to navigation buoy with the letters WR and attached light…