Oliver J. Olson & Co., a Corporation v. Luckenbach Steamship Company, a Corporation, Marine Leopard Cargo v. Oliver J. Olson & Co., a Corporation

This is an admiralty case involving a collision at sea between the SS Howard Olson and the SS Marine Leopard.

The Leopard is a C-4 freighter 622 feet 10 inches long with a beam of 71 feet 7 «inches and 10,662.53 tons gross register. The Olson was a 261-foot lumber schooner of 2,477 gross tons. The Olson left San Pedro, California, in ballast, during the afternoon of May 12, 1956, northbound for Coos Bay, Oregon. The Leopard departed San Francisco on the morning of May 13, laden with 11,-766 tons of cargo, bound down the coast to San Pedro.

In the early hours of May 14,1956, the two vessels, proceeding in opposite directions, approached Point Sur off the California coast. The night was bright and clear, and visibility was unlimited. There was a northwest wind of force two or three, a northwesterly swell, and a moderate sea. Both vessels had the lights required of a steamer navigating at night, and they were properly positioned and burning brightly.

The vessels sighted each other’s lights at approximately 1:40 a. m., when they were almost sixteen miles apart, and were in sight continuously thereafter until they collided. The speed of the Leop-ard was about seventeen knots and…