All Alaskan Seafoods, Inc. v. Raychem Corp.

Appellant AAS-DMP Management Partnership (“AAS-DMP”) appeals the judgment in favor of appellees Raychem Corporation (“Raychem”) and Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co. (“3M”). The district court granted summary judgment for appellees on appellant’s claims for product liability arising from a fire aboard the P/V ALL ALASKAN. We reverse and remand.

The following facts are not in dispute. In 1987, All Alaskan Seafoods, Inc. (“All Alaskan”) purchased the hull of an oil drill ship, then spent over $25,000,000.00 to build a seafood processing factory on the hull, and named the vessel P/V ALL ALASKAN. All Alaskan built the vessel for its own use and operated the vessel in the Bering Sea to process salmon and crab meat. The first season of operation began in June, 1989. Before the second season, All Alaskan purchased Raychem heating *994 cable in bulk and installed some of the cable on a new drain line on the vessel. An end cap manufactured by 3M was installed on the end of the Raychem heating cable. On July 5,1994, after operating the ship for another four seasons, All Alaskan transferred title of the ship “as is where is” to AAS-DMP, created for a joint venture between All Alaskan and…