Alf Larsen v. Insurance Company of North America

This diversity case raises questions of liability of an insurer for loss of cargo due to the alleged negligence of the crew of the carrier in care and refrigeration of the cargo. The cargo consisted of twenty-one tierces (large barrels) of mild-cured salmon, shipped aboard the Aleutian Reefer from Alaska to Seattle ■on July 10, 1964. Upon arrival in Seattle two months later, eleven of the tierces were found to be total losses due to their soured condition. The District Court entered summary judgment in favor of appellee upon the ground that the loss was not covered by the two applicable standard cargo policy clauses: (1) the so-•called “Inchmaree” perils clause, and (2) the Average warranty. Upon this .appeal appellant contends that the District Court has not correctly interpreted those clauses.

1. As to the Inchmaree clause, appellant-contends that the District Court erroneously gave a narrow and inappropriate construction to the phrase “navigation or management of the vessel” in •excluding acts of negligence in the care of cargo. The court relied on the established construction of this phrase as used in the Harter Act, 27 Stat. 445 (1893), 46 U.S.C., § 192 (1964), and the…