Arctic Shipping Corporation v. Gulfcoast Transit Company

TUTTLE, Chief Judge:

This is an appeal from an interlocutory decree in admiralty fixing liability for a head-on collision between the M/V “ARCTIC REEFER” and the S/S “MARTHA MAC”, which occurred in broad daylight in Cut C channel of Hills-borough Bay, Tampa, Florida. The disposition of this appeal also disposes of the problem of who should pay for damages to the tug “JOHN C” belonging to Gulf Florida Terminal Company, which was made up to the MARTHA MAC at the time of the collision.

As would naturally be expected when a head-on collision occurs in broad daylight in a channel which is wide…