The Amelie
Supreme Court of the United States
Pitz, of Boston, was owner of goods to the value of $8300, shipped at Surinam on board the AmeWe, a Dutch vessel owned in Amsterdam, and to be delivered to him in Boston. The vessel when she left her port was apparently seaworthy and well provided, but having been struck with lightning in the course of her voyage, and encountering perils of the sea, was compelled to seek some harbor, and with difficulty she made Port au Prince.
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Pitz, of Boston, was owner of goods to the value of $8300, shipped at Surinam on board the AmeWe, a Dutch vessel owned in Amsterdam, and to be delivered to him in Boston. The vessel when she left her port was apparently seaworthy and well provided, but having been struck with lightning in the course of her voyage, and encountering perils of the sea, was compelled to seek some harbor, and with difficulty she made Port au Prince. She was here surveyed by two masters of vessels appointed by the Dutch consul there. These examined the outside of the vessel and found damage upon it, which they…
1Opinion of the CourtJustice Davis
The principle of maritime law which governs this controversy is too well settled for dispute. Although the power of the master to sell his ship in any case, without the express authority of the owner, was formerly denied, yet it is now the received doctrine of the courts in this country as well as in England, that the master has the right to sell in case of actual necessity.
We are not called upon to discuss the reasons for the rule, nor to cite authorities in its support, because it has repeatedly received the sanction of this court. §
From the very nature of the case (the court say), there…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Weston v. PennimanU.S. Circuit Court for the District of Massachusetts · 1817
3Cited by23 opinions
- The Styria, Scopinich v. MunroeSupreme Court of the United States · 1902
- The" Julia Blake"Supreme Court of the United States · 1883
- Osborn v. United StatesCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit · 1931
- The TrentonDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan · 1880
- Mosely v. TuthillSupreme Court of Alabama · 1871
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