Royal Insurance Co. of America v. Southwest Marine
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Browning, J.
I.
In 1993, David Garthwaite, owner of the yacht SUNAIR, entered into two agreements with Southwest Marine relating to the renovation of SUNAIR: (1) a “Do It Yourself Agreement” providing that Garthwaite would rent space at Southwest Marine’s boat yard as the site of the renovation to be completed by an outside contractor; and (2) a “Vessel Repair Order” fixing hourly rates for various services to be provided by Southwest, including crane service.
In 1994, Southwest lifted the SUNAIR from the water and placed it in a storage cradle for renovation. The lift occurred without incident. The renovation was completed in 1995 and, following sea trials, Southwest returned SUNAIR to its storage cradle for final repairs. As Southwest was lifting SUNAIR from the water, the winch drum on the crane cracked, and the yacht dropped a few inches. The SU-NAIR was unharmed, but the crane suffered serious damage.
Southwest hired American Rigging Company to repair the crane. American Rigging fixed the winch drum and, together with Southwest personnel, installed a new wire rope. Southwest then hired Ac *1013 credited Certified Associates to inspect the crane.