United States v. The Agioi Victores

In this admiralty case in rem, the United States sought to recover from the ship Agioi Víctores damages sustained by its dredge Multnomah in a collision with the ship. N. J. Pateras Sons, Ltd., general agent and claimant of the Agioi Víctores, which was owned by a corporation of Liberia, filed a cross-libel. An interlocutory decree was entered dismissing the libel of the United States and adjudging the cross-libelant entitled to recover for damages to the ship.

Upon its appeal here the United States asserts first that the district court erred in rejecting the contention made below that the dredge was a “piece of plant, floating or otherwise”, within the meaning of those portions of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 which are set forth in Title 33 U.S.C.A. §§ 408 , 411 and 412, and which appear in the margin. 1 The collision here in question occurred when the' Agioi Víctores, moving down the Columbia River outbound for sea, struck the pontoon pipeline of the dredge, went through it and then sideswiped the dredge which was anchored on the northern edge of the Fisher Island ship channel. The dredge had been- used by the *573 Army Engineers Corps in dredging the ship channel, but at…