Wong Wing Fai Company, S.A. v. United States

This appeal involves a time charter between the plaintiff, Wong Wing Fai Company, owner and operator of the oil tanker VIRA 8, and the defendant, the Military Sealift Command of the United States Navy (hereinafter usually referred to as “the Navy”). The district court had jurisdiction under the Suits in Admiralty Act, 46 U.S.C. §§ 741-752 . We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291 and 1294(1).

BACKGROUND

In March of 1975 the chartered vessel, the VIRA 8, entered Vietnamese waters with the shipowner’s knowledge that maritime insurance companies considered the area a war zone. The VIRA 8 was insured under a private war risk insurance policy until April 27, 1975. On April 9, three weeks before the fall of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) to North Vietnamese forces, the plaintiff and the Navy signed a letter agreement chartering the VIRA 8 to the Navy to facilitate supplying fuel oil to the Navy’s ships operating in Vietnamese waters in connection with the evacuation of South Vietnam. Although both parties intended that the letter agreement would be superseded by a more formal document, a formal contract was never prepared due to the exigencies of the military situation.…