Opinion ID: 19793
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Entry of Seawater-Presumption of Unseaworthiness

Text: 21 Folger Coffee and Gulf Insurance contend that the entry of seawater into the vessel leads to a presumption of unseaworthiness. We find no authority to support such a presumption. Jahn v. The Folmina, 212 U.S. 354 (1909), a pre-COGSA case, did not deal with seaworthiness as the term is used under COGSA, but rather how the absence of proof as to causation affects a determination of negligence where cargo has been damaged by seawater. Similarly, in Artemis Maritime Co. v. Southwestern Sugar & Molasses Co., 189 F.2d 488 (4th Cir. 1951), seawater reached the cargo through a corroded and weak hull, conditions that, with due diligence, could have been discovered prior to the voyage. See id. at 491. Here, in contrast, any damage to the cargo could reasonably be deemed by a trier of fact to have stemmed from events occurring after the entry of seawater. 22 The district court did not commit clear error by finding the vessel seaworthy despite the entry of seawater. It found that the water came onto the ship over the stern in a storm with force 11 winds. This finding has support in the record. 23