Crown Zellerbach Corporation v. Willamette-Western Corporation, a Corporation, Dba Willamette Tug & Barge Company, and Richard J. Olsen

On June 18, 1968, a derrick barge, owned by Willamette-Western and towed by Olsen’s tug, was preparing to conduct dredging operations in a side channel of the Columbia River in Oregon. As the tug and barge moved away from the side of the channel toward midstream, a raised boom on the barge struck and severed a power line that was suspended across the channel and connected with Crown Zellerbach’s paper mill. Crown Zellerbach’s manufacturing operations were idled for approximately 30 minutes.

Crown Zellerbach sued in admiralty, seeking damages from Willamette-Western and Olsen. After a trial, the District Court ruled that Crown Zellerbach was 20 percent at fault for the collision between its power line and the boom, since at the point of the collision, the line had sagged to a level lower than the minimum height required by the Corps of Engineers permit that authorized Crown Zellerbach to hang the line. The court found Olsen and Willamette each to be 40 percent at fault for the collision and awarded judgment against Willamette-Western and Olsen for a total of $18,521.31, a sum equal to 80 percent of Crown Zellerbach’s provable loss.

Appellants first contend that the trial…