Opinion ID: 74611
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: COGSA—An Exclusive Remedy

Text: COGSA, enacted in 1936, governs all contracts for carriage of goods by sea to or from ports of the United States in foreign trade. 46 U.S.C.App. § 1312 (1999). The purpose of COGSA was to achieve international uniformity and to redress the edge in bargaining power enjoyed by carriers over shipper and cargo interests by setting out certain duties and responsibilities of carriers that cannot be avoided even by express contractual provision. Thomas J. Schoenbaum, Admiralty and Maritime Law § 8-15, at 537 (2d ed.1994). Although the act is not explicit, courts have agreed that a plaintiff states a prima facie claim under COGSA by demonstrating delivery of goods in sound condition to a carrier and their subsequent receipt in 3 The contract claim was not originally styled as a COGSA claim in the complaint, although COGSA was asserted as one basis for the court's jurisdiction, but the court and the parties treated the claim as such. The preemption argument did not appear in the briefs; the parties presumably raised it during oral argument. 2 damaged condition. The burden then shifts to the carrier to establish that the damage was not caused by its negligence. See id. § 8-22, at 556. The first question before us is whether this COGSA cause of action excludes all other remedies. Citing St. Paul's Fire & Marine Ins. Co. v. Marine Transp. Servs. Sea-Barge Group, Inc., 727 F.Supp. 1438, 1442 (S.D.Fla.1989), the district court held that COGSA provided an exclusive remedy and therefore preempted Polo's tort claims. On appeal, Polo challenges the district court's reliance on St. Paul Fire & Marine and offers contrary appellate authority for the proposition that COGSA does not preclude tort law claims. We conclude that because COGSA applies in this case, it provides Polo's exclusive remedy.4 COGSA was intended to govern all contracts for carriage of goods between the United States and foreign ports. See 46 U.S.C.App. § 1312 (1999). Although the statute is silent on its preemptive scope, it states that it does not supersede any laws insofar as they relate to the duties, responsibilities, and liabilities of the ship or carrier prior to the time when the goods are loaded on or after the time they are discharged from the ship. Id. § 1311. Because COGSA governs during the time after cargo is loaded and before it is removed from the ship, the implication from this provision is that COGSA, when it applies, supersedes other laws. The few courts addressing this issue have reached the same conclusion. See Sail America Found. v. M/V T.S. PROSPERITY, 778 F.Supp. 1282, 1285 (S.D.N.Y.1991); St. Paul Fire & Marine, 727 F.Supp. at 1442; B.F. McKernin & Co. v. United States Lines, Inc., 416 F.Supp. 1068, 1071 (S.D.N.Y.1976). We have found no cases in which a court has allowed a tort claim to proceed when COGSA applies. A few courts have permitted cargo owners or shippers to bring bailment claims against vessel owners, but only after a determination that COGSA liability did not lie. See Tuscaloosa Steel Corp. v. M/V NAIMO, 1993 A.M.C. 622, 626-27 (S.D.N.Y.1992) (equity permitted a cargo owner to bring a tort claim against a negligent vessel owner who was not a carrier within the meaning of COGSA); DB-Trade Int'l, Inc. v. 4 Polo does not dispute that COGSA governs this controversy. See Appellants' Br. at 18. 3 Astramar, 1988 A.M.C. 766, 767 (N.D.Ill.1987) (same); cf. Nichimen Co. v. M/V FARLAND, 462 F.2d 319, 325-26 & n. 1 (2d Cir.1972) (had COGSA not applied to plaintiff's claim, the defendant carrier would have had to meet a different standard defending against a federal bailment claim). Even though Polo concedes that COGSA applies, it maintains the viability of its tort claims as brought under COGSA. In Polo's view, because COGSA incorporated elements of tort law, it may bring a tort claim even if a contract claim under COGSA would fail. We disagree. That COGSA claims are hybrids born of elements from contract and tort does not change the fact that the resulting claim is a unitary statutory remedy, rather than an array of common law claims.5 Many courts have recognized that a COGSA claim against a negligent carrier for lost or damaged goods comprises elements of both contract, arising from the breach of the contract of carriage, and tort, issuing from the breach of the carrier's duty of care. See Associated Metals & Minerals Corp. v. ALEXANDER'S UNITY MV, 41 F.3d 1007, 1017 (5th Cir.1995) (COGSA claim against negligent carriers for lost goods or damaged was a hybrid contract and tort claim and was thus a preferred maritime lien); Texport Oil Co. v. M/V AMOLYNTOS, 11 F.3d 361, 367 (2d Cir.1993), overruled on other grounds by Wilton v. Seven Falls Co., 515 U.S. 277, 115 S.Ct. 2137, 132 L.Ed.2d 214 (1995) (collateral source rule applies to COGSA claim because it is a mixture of contract and tort); All Alaskan Seafoods, Inc. v. M/V SEA PRODUCER, 882 F.2d 425, 430 (9th Cir.1989) (cargo claims under Ship Mortgage Act sounded in tort and thus were entitled to preferred lien status); Oriente Commercial, Inc. v. The American Flag Vessel, 529 F.2d 221, 223 (4th Cir.1975) (COGSA claims against negligent carriers bore an element of tort and are thus preferred maritime liens against defaulted vessels). 5 Polo's complaint therefore should have stated a single COGSA claim instead of three separate causes of action. At some point in the proceedings before the district court, the contract claim was treated as the COGSA claim, thus segregating the remaining tort claims even though it appears that Polo intended all three claims as COGSA claims. 4 Although recognizing the COGSA claim's hybrid nature, these cases do not stand for the proposition that COGSA provides various causes of action, both contract and tort, from which a plaintiff may choose in seeking redress from a negligent carrier. Nothing in the language of COGSA or the cases interpreting it leads us to believe otherwise. We therefore conclude that COGSA affords one cause of action for lost or damaged goods which, depending on the underlying circumstances, may sound louder in either contract or tort. The parties here agree that COGSA applies to Polo's claim against Tropical. Because COGSA provides an exclusive remedy, the district court properly granted summary judgment on Polo's actions in bailment and negligence.6