Lanasa Fruit Steamship & Importing Co. v. Universal Ins.

WILLIAM C. COLEMAN, District Judge.

The question presented involves the interpretation of a policy of marine insuranee issued by the defendant to the plaintiff covering a cargo of bananas shipped aboard the Norwegian steamship Smaragd in July, 1935, from Cuba to Baltimore. The vessel was stranded coming up Chesapeake Bay, and before she could be floated, the entire cargo of bananas became overripe and rotted, resulting in total loss. The plaintiff furnished the requisite proof of loss, but defendant has refused to pay on the ground that the direct cause of the damage to the cargo was the delay…