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Late Decisions in Maritime Law Legal Tips for Shipowners and Officers AILURE of executors to comply with a clause in a passenger ticket that notice of claim for death of pas- senger must be given to the shipown- ers within ten days after termination of the voyage, which expired shortly before the executors enjoyed the legal status which would enable them to assert the claim and bring action, was not a bar to the action, it was decided in the case of Huropa, 6 Fed. Supp. 686, since the notice clause was unrea- sonable and impossible of fulfillment. * * & EAWORTHINESS, said the court S in the case of Spencer Kellogg & Sons v. Buckeye Steamship Co., 70 F. (2d) 146, does not comprehend the best form of construction, or perfec- tion in condition, but only that the vessel be so staunch and strong as to resist the ordinary actions of the sea during the voyage without damage or loss of cargo. Thus the standard by which it is to be determined is whether the vessel is reasonably fit to carry the cargo which she has under- taken to transport considering the or- dinary perils to be anticipated in the voyage. ce ait teat HERE the entire cargo carrying capacity of a barge was chart- ered, the barge was a private carrier and its liability was determinable by the rules governing the responsibility of bailees upon proof of delivery to a bailee in good order and condition and delivery by the bailee in bad or- der, there is a presumption of the bailee’s negligence, and the _ latter inust come forward and explain the cause of the damage and that it was not due to negligence on its part. Fail- ure of the private carrier in the in- stant case to explain the presence of seawater in the barge placed on it liability for damages sustained.— JOSEPH J. Hock, 70 F.. (2d) 259. i * + UGS are responsible for the make- up of their tow; hence, are liable for damages thereto because of failure to make it up in such manner as to withstand usual swells in waters wherein it is navigating —JuLia (C. Davin, 70 F. (2d) 268. Ed Bo % HE shipowner is under a duty to furnish medical aid to a seaman who suffers injury or becomes ill in the 24 Specially Compiled for Marine Review By Harry Bowne Skillman Attorney at Law service of the ship, and damages for neglect of this duty may be recovered in a proceeding in rem. Except in the face of danger to the ship or other emergency, it was declared in the case of Pornt Fermin, 70 F. (2d) 602, to require an injured or sick seaman to perform work substantially detrimen- tal to his condition is in effect to fail and refuse to provide that care and attention to which he is entitled un- Ger the law. HERE a seaman is discharged in a foreign country by a con- sular officer on his complaint that the voyage is continued contrary to agree- ment, or that the vessel is badly pro- visioned or unseaworthy, or against the officers for cruel treatment, it is the duty of the consul or consular agent, after inquiry and upon being satisfied of the truth and justice of the complaint, to require the master to pay the seaman one month’s wages over and above the wages due at the lime of discharge and to provide pas- sage home on some other vessel. Where a seaman, complaining that the crew nad not been divided into equal watches, failed to obtain favorable ac- tion from the American consul in Lon- don on his complaint and thereupon deserted ship, he had no cause of ac- tion against the shipowner for the one month’s extra wages and _ passage home.—AMERICAN SHIPPER, 70 F. (2d) 632. *% % N DETERMINING whether’ due l care was used by the master of a tug with barges in tow, much latitude ought to be allowed to the master who could get no bearings by eye or ear; however, failure to reduce speed in at- tempting to make for shelter of port and failure to cast lead for more than seven minutes in fewer than 30 feet of water and for about six minutes in fewer than 24 feet of water just pre- ceding going ashore with the barges was negligence.—C. W. Patterson, 70 (20): 712, NE asserting the defense of in- evitable accident has the bur- den of proof to establish the fact by the clear weight of the credible evi- dence. To sustain this burden, the party alleging it must do one of two things; either must show what was MARINE REVIEw—September, 1934 the cause of the accident and that the result of that cause was inevitable; or must show all the possible causes, one or the other of which produced the effect; and must further show with re- gard to every one of these possible causes that the result could not have been avoided. The test of inevitable accident is met when, first, the cause of the accident is disclosed within the limits of the most reliable expert knowledge peculiar to the given art, and, second, when it is conclusively shown that with the exercise of rea- sonable care, based upon such knowl- edge, the accident did nevertheless in fact occur.—BEAcoN, 6 Fed. Supp. 779. *% UG owner engaged to tow scows is not an insurer of the scows, but is charged with the duty of exercising reasonable care while they are in his custody. * * * The mere fact that the tow was in good crder when received by the tug and in damaged condition when redelivered by it does not raise the presumption of neglience against the tug. * * * It is the duty of a tue master, who adds his tow to a moored flotilla, to inspect the lines with re- spect to their ability to bear the added weight under conditions of tide and weather which are to be anticipated.— VENUS, 6 Fed. Supp. 950. *%& CARRIER which has been guilty of deviation becomes an insurer for any damage suffered by the cargo, and it is wholly immaterial whether the deviation had any cause or con- nection with the damage caused to her cargo. If the cargo was in good or-. der and condition when the deviation occurred, the ship must answer for its subsequent damage.—Ipa, 6 Fed. Supp. 992. bd Do Eg HEN a derelict is discovered on the high seas and it is salved, the salvors have a right of possession in the nature of a lien until they have been reimbursed by the owner, but the salvor does not acquire absolute title good against the owner.—Port HunNtT- ER, 6 Fed. Supp. 1009. N ORDER to limit his liability, a charterer of a vessel must surrend- er the vessel and the freight pending: at the end of the voyage, or its value.. —Forr Brace, 6 Fed. Supp. 13.