Balfour, Guthrie & Co. v. American-West African Line, Inc.

CLARK, Circuit Judge.

On a voyage from West Africa to New York in January, 1940, a hull plate of the steamship “Zarembo” cracked during heavy seas, sea water entered her No. 1 hold, and her cargo of cocoa beans was damaged. The cargo owners, Balfour, Guthrie & Co., Ltd., and Commonwealth African, Ltd., appeal from adverse judgments in a libel in rem for cargo damage and loss and in a cross-libel against themselves by the shipowner, American-West African Line, Inc., for general average. The substantial issue before us is whether the district court erred in finding that due diligence was…