OPINION

Before MERRILL and WALLACE, Circuit Judges, and SKOPIL, District Judge. *

The question here presented is whether the shipowner, appellant Liberty Shipping Corporation, was properly held liable for damage to cargo caused by fire at sea.

In its memorandum of opinion the district court stated:

The court’s statements respecting unseaworthiness are supported by findings of fact which in turn are amply *1251 supported by the record. We find no merit in appellant’s contentions to the contrary. The court’s appraisal of the competence of master and crew is supported by expert testimony as to the proper methods to use in smothering a fire in a cargo hold, and by testimony as to the manner in which the master and crew sought to smother this fire, and is further supported by rational inferences flowing from such testimony. The court’s findings as to the vent dampers are amply supported by the record.

Appellant contends that the district court decision disregards the owner’s immunity from liability for damage to cargo caused by fire as granted both by the Fire Statute, 46 U.S.C. § 182 , and by the Carriage of Goods By Sea Act (“COGSA”), 46 U.S.C. § 1304 .

In two respects appellant contends that the owner’s immunity has been disregarded.

First, it notes that the owner is immune unless the fire was caused by “the design or neglect” of the owner (Fire Statute), or “the actual fault or privity of the carrier” (COGSA). Since the district court found that the cause of the fire was unknown, appellant contends that Cargo has failed to meet its burden.

Appellant reads the statutes too narrowly. In Asbestos Corp. Ltd. v. Compagnie De Navigation, etc., 480 F.2d 669, 672 (2d Cir. 1973), it was held, with citation of substantial supporting authority, that “exception to the general statutory exemptions applies where the shipowner’s negligence did not cause ignition of the fire but where damage to the cargo could have been prevented despite the ignition of the fire had it not been for the negligence of the shipowner.”

In that case, as here, appellants sought a narrow construction of both the Fire Statute and COGSA. The court stated:

480 F.2d at 672 .

In turn, we agree.

Appellant next contends that the district court has, contrary to the statutory exemptions, placed upon the owner strict liability for the loss suffered by cargo. Appellant reasons that the court, by attributing responsibility for cargo damage jointly to the fire and to unseaworthiness, has placed upon the owner the traditional nondelegable duty to make the ship seaworthy and thus has imposed strict liability. The statutory exemptions, it is contended, do not permit the imposition of liability by nondelegable duty. Appellant relies on Earle & Stoddart, Inc. v. Ellerman’s Wilson Line, Ltd., 287 U.S. 420 , 53 S.Ct. 200 , 77 L.Ed. 403 (1932), where it was held that owner liability for loss attributable to unseaworthiness cannot be imposed on the theory of a nondelegable duty created by implied warranty; and that the statutory requirement that there be design or

*1252 neglect on the part of the owner precludes such a result.

However, the district court’s holding here was entirely consistent with Earle & Stoddart. COGSA provides, 46 U.S.C. § 1303 (1):

In the case before us liability was not based on the traditional elements by which an owner is held liable for unseaworthiness of his vessel — those related to warranty and nondelegable duty. Here there was owner neglect and actual fault constituting failure to exercise the due diligence required by COGSA through permitting the vessel to put to sea without having properly trained the master and crew in the use of fire-fighting equipment and without having remedied deficiencies in the vent closing devices. Where the unseaworthy conditions that were the cause of the fire damage existed by reason of owner neglect or actual fault, the exemptions created by the Fire Statute and COGSA do not apply.

Judgment affirmed.

Honorable Otto R. Skopil, Jr., United States District Judge for the District of Oregon, sitting by designation.