J. Ray McDermott & Co. v. Vessel Morning Star

DYER, Circuit Judge:

The question whether state or federal law governs deficiency judgments under the Ship Mortgage Act is a matter of such vital public concern that we placed this action for the foreclosure of a preferred ship mortgage en banc.

The district court granted a deficiency judgment in favor of McDermott (the shipbuilder) and against the Smith interests (the purchaser) for the difference of the amount bid on the judicial sale of the vessels and the balance of the indebtedness due on the notes secured by the preferred mortgage.

The prior opinion in this case said:

That Law [Louisiana]…