Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Company, Ltd. v. Retla Steamship Company

Plaintiff-appellant, Tokio Marine and Fire Insurance Company, Ltd., as subrogee of R. A. Barnett & Company, the purchaser of a shipment of steel pipe, brought this action against defendantappellee, Retía Steamship Company, he ocean carrier which transported the pipe from Japan to Los Angeles, to recover damages suffered by Barnett by reason of rust on the pipe when it was delivered in Los Angeles. The ease was submitted on an agreed statement of facts. This appeal was taken from a judgment in favor of the defendant, Retía Steamship Company.

Barnett is a California corporation engaged in the importation of steel products, particularly pipe, from Japan. It purchased the pipe involved in this action from Mitsubishi Shoji Kaisha, Ltd., a Japanese exporter of steel pipe and other products. The carrier, Retía Steamship Company, transports cargoes of steel and other commodities from Japanese to United States ports on time-charter ves seis. Mitsubishi, as shipper, delivered to Retía at the Port of Yokohama, Japan, a cargo consisting of steel irrigation pipe and galvanized and ungalvanized plumbing pipe, for carriage to Los Angeles aboard the vessel SS Tkalassoporos. Retía was the carrier…