United Cook Inlet Drift Assoc. v. Trinidad Corp.

Various parties with interests in the oil tanker Glacier Bay (collectively “Trinidad”) appeal the district court’s dismissal of their suit against the United States under the Suits in Admiralty Act. Trinidad’s suit alleges that the government’s negligence in preparing nautical charts was partly responsible for the Glacier Bay running aground on a rock in Cook Inlet, Alaska. The district court concluded that the alleged acts of negligence are shielded by the discretionary function exception to the government’s waiver of sovereign immunity. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

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On July 2, 1987, the tanker Glacier Bay ran aground on a large submerged rock (now known as the “Glacier Bay Rock”) while attempting to anchor in Cook Inlet, Alaska. The grounding resulted in a major oil spill. Local fisherfolk sued Trinidad for damage to their livelihood, the United States sued Trinidad for reimbursement of cleanup costs, and Trinidad sued the United States under the Suits in Admiralty Act, 46 U.S.C App. § 741-52, for negligence in preparing charts the *1450 ship’s captain had used. These charts did not note the existence of…