The Dow Chemical Company v. Ashland Oil, Inc.

JOHN R. BROWN, Chief Judge:

Dow Chemical Company (Dow) filed suit to recover for cargo lost from a barge owned by a division of Ashland Oil (Ash-land). The District Court Judge struggled with a contract of affreightment containing several inconsistent, if not contradictory, clauses and, with what we imagine to have been a jurisprudential sigh of relief, picked out one clause, found it controlling, and granted summary judgment in favor of Ashland. Dow appeals.

This contract is difficult because it twice puts full responsibility for loss or damage of the cargo upon the shipper Dow — once under…