Kovell
Kovell v. Portland Tug & Barge Co.
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Denman, J.
This is an appeal from a decree in an admiralty proceeding in rem, brought by second mate Kovell for himself and other members of the crew of the sea,-going diesel tug, M. V. Mundos, against two steel barges for claimed services in the salvage of the barges. • The tug and barges were owned by the appellee, their claimant in this proceeding in rem. The district court dismissed the libel .after a hearing on the merits.
The tug was towing the two barges in tandem on a voyage from San Diego, California, to Seattle, Washington. On the evening of June 19, 1947, when northwest of the Farallón Islands off San Francisco Bay, they encountered a very heavy northwest windstorm, estimated by the captain at 60 to 65 miles an hour. The storm lasted through the 20th and into the 21st. The testimony that the wind continued at great force with seas “mountainous” in height throughout the period of the claimed salvage services, as recited in appellant’s brief, is not disputed in appellee’s brief, nor was it at the hearing.
The barges were each 220 feet in length by 30 feet beam. They were not laden and exposed to the heavy seas their 12 feet of freeboard. There was no structure above their flat…