In The Matter Of Esta Later Charters, Inc.

875 F.2d 234 1989 A.M.C. 1480 , 57 USLW 2703 IN the Matter of ESTA LATER CHARTERS, INC., a former owner of the Kadena de Amor, for Exoneration from or Limitation of Liability, and Fireman's Fund Insurance Co., Petitioners-Appellants, v. James IGNACIO, Jr. and Steven Charfauros Manley, Claimants-Appellees. Nos. 88-2728, 88-2730. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Jan. 12, 1989 Decided May 17, 1989. David A. Mair, Mair, Mair, Hogan & Spade, Daniel R. Del Priore, Agana, Guam, for petitioners-appellants. Margaret E. Bean, McCully, Swavely & Lannen, Robert L. Keogh, Keogh & Butler, Agana, Guam, for claimants-appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Guam. Before BROWNING, BEEZER and KOZINSKI, Circuit Judges. KOZINSKI, Circuit Judge: 1 Shortly after the close of the middle ages, many European seafaring nations developed a rule of maritime law that limited a shipowner's liability to the value of the vessel and its cargo. 1 The rule was first adopted in the United States in the Limitation of Liability Act of 1851, Act of March 3, 1851, 9 Stat. 635 , codified at R.S. Sec. 4283 et seq., and has remained part of…