Arthur Anderson and Clatsop Fisheries, Inc., an Oregon Corporation v. Gene R. Nadon, Dorothy Irene Nadon and Jataboro Corporation, a Corporation

This is an admiralty suit for exoneration from or limitation of liability for damages resulting from a collision at sea. Petitioners for this relief sought and obtained an injunction prohibiting four named respondents from commencing a state court action to recover such damages. Two of the respondents moved for an order dissolving the injunction. The motion was denied whereupon those two respondents took this appeal.

The collision occurred upon the high seas, on December 6, 1964, between two fishing vessels, the F/V EAGLE and the F/V BETTY. The BETTY sank. On June 4, 1965 the owners of the EAGLE, Gene R. Nadon, Dorothy Irene Nadon, and Jataboro Corporation, filed their petition instituting this proceeding. Named as respondents were Clatsop Fisheries, Inc., (Clatsop), an Oregon corporation, which had owned and operated the BETTY, Arthur Anderson, who was the captain of the BETTY at the time of the collision and who is President of Clatsop, and Riley Linville and Uno Winters, who were members of the crew of the BETTY at the time of the collision.

Petitioners alleged that they had been advised that Anderson and Clatsop were claiming damages in the sum of $60,000 for the loss of the…