Great American Insurance Company v. Katani Shipping Company, S.A.

Here, we have again the ever recurring problems anent venue, and here again is reconfirmation of this court’s observation in Courtesy Chevrolet, Inc. v. Tennessee Walking Horse Ass’n, 9 Cir., 1965, 344 F.2d 860, 863 , that the only rule of law which is uniformly applicable in all cases involving venue is: the decision depends entirely upon the particular facts involved. So, therefore, to the facts!

Katani Shipping Company, S. A. (Katani) is a Panamanian corporation. It has never qualified to do business in California nor appointed an agent for service of process there. It has no resident officers, directors or employees or property in California, nor prior to the events hereafter related did it ever transact any business there.

Katani owns the Greek flag vessel SIMBA, and in March 1966 chartered it to Zim Israel Navigation Co., Ltd. (Zim), a shipping line operating between Mediterranean ports and North and South America. In December 1966 and January 1967 Zim accepted cargo at various Mediterranean ports for carriage aboard the SIMBA to ports in South America and on the West Coast of North America, using Zim’s own bills of lading. On that voyage, in February 1967, at La Guaira,…