Opinion ID: 516020
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: the salvage claim

Text: 39 A successful salvage claim requires three proofs: (1) marine peril; (2) voluntary service rendered when not required as an existing duty or from a special contract; and (3) success in whole or in part, or contribution to the success of the operation. The SABINE, 101 U.S. 384, 25 L.Ed. 982 (1880); Legnos v. The M/V OLGA JACOB, 498 F.2d 666, rehearing denied, 503 F.2d 567, 568 (5th Cir.1974). The district court cited two independent grounds for its denial of Captain Nunley's salvage claim. It found that Nunley's actions were not voluntary, but were instead part of the services which his company ChemLink had contracted to provide. It also found that Nunley's alleged salvage services were not necessary to the removal of the ship from a condition of peril. Nunley challenges both of the district court's findings of fact. We have some difficulty with the district court's finding that the DAUNTLESS was not in peril, even though it had been sinking to a mere five inch (5) freeboard before being stabilized. We may pretermit analysis of that issue, however, because we endorse the district court's conclusion that Nunley was not a volunteer salvor. 40 The district court found that Nunley's actions on the night of Sunday, July 24 and the morning of July 25 fulfilled the contract he made on behalf of ChemLink the preceding Friday. That agreement, later assumed by the DAUNTLESS interests, called for ChemLink to supply barges, pumps, tugs and manpower to remove water, slop and oil from the beleaguered vessel. ChemLink was eventually paid $140,000.00 for these efforts. 41 Significantly, the district court credited the testimony of ship's agent George Weeks that on Friday evening he asked Nunley to secure semisubmersible pumps from Houston for the dewatering work, and Nunley promised they would arrive by Saturday, or Sunday at the latest. 16 The pumps proved unavailable. When the DAUNTLESS began sinking on Saturday, ChemLink had no pumps to contribute to the salvage effort. The Coast Guard salvage work began on Sunday evening. Weeks again asked Nunley--as a representative of ChemLink--to obtain other equipment. Nunley then obtained pumps, which started operating at about 10:30 a.m. Monday. 42 The parties do not dispute that from the night of Sunday July 24 through the early morning of July 25 Nunley devoted himself to assisting in the acquisition, installation or activation of several pumps for the DAUNTLESS. 17 Captain Nunley testified that although he was acting as vice president of ChemLink on Friday, Saturday and Monday, his actions on Sunday night and in the Monday dawn hours were those of an individual salvor. The district court, on the weight of the evidence, rejected his contention. We do not find its conclusion clearly erroneous. 43 Nunley suggests, however, that the trial court's legal analysis erred. The Supreme Court's holding in The CAMANCHE, 75 U.S. (8 Wall.) 448, 19 L.Ed. 397 (1869), he contends, approves a salvage award notwithstanding a contractual undertaking between the parties unless (1) the contract clearly covered salvage at a given sum for services rendered or (2) the agreement constituted a binding engagement to pay at all events, whether the enterprise was successful or not. The CAMANCHE does not further Nunley's salvage claim, because his actions on Sunday night and Monday morning were entirely consistent with ChemLink's agreement to dewater the DAUNTLESS. Nunley argues that ChemLink was not in the salvage business, and he testified that he told individuals connected with the Coast Guard and the DAUNTLESS just that. That the operations performed by ChemLink within the scope of its normal operations may have also had a salving effect does not mean that they exceeded the scope of ChemLink's contractual responsibility. Describing the scope of ChemLink's operations, Nunley acknowledged that the company would provide barges and pumps to pump whatever its customers wanted so long as its activities complied with Coast Guard requirements and common sense safety practices. In the normal course of business, ChemLink would frequently rent pumps from other contractors. Nunley testified that ChemLink was responsive to the needs and demands of its customers. As vice president and general manager for ChemLink, Nunley's job required him to be on 24-hour call, and it was not unusual for Captain Nunley to go out in the field to supervise the performance of a ChemLink contract. Nunley also testified that on Friday July 22, he understood that his job would involve taking water, slop and oil out of the DAUNTLESS onto his barge. He considered himself obliged to oversee the condition of men and equipment that had been sent to the site of the DAUNTLESS during the period from July 22 through the conclusion of ChemLink's work on July 30. The distinction he seeks us to draw between his contract duties and his salvage efforts is simply too fine. 44 Nunley contends additionally that the case law recognizes that contract services may closely resemble, yet not constitute, salvage and cites three cases in support of this claim. These cases are readily distinguishable. In the first case, Smith v. Union Oil Company of California, 274 F.Supp. 248 (N.D.Cal.1966), the trial court found that the contract between the ship owners and the alleged salvors covered only services connected with discharging cargo and readying the ship for towing. On the other hand, the salvage efforts primarily involved firefighting and controlling the flow of sea water into the engine room. Unlike this case, these two sets of activities by the salvor are strikingly dissimilar. 45 Nunley's second case, Lago Oil & Transport Co. v. United States, 218 F.2d 631 (2nd Cir.1955), dealt with the salvage claims of a ship's agent. There the court said, In the absence of any specific provision of the agency contract--and none was shown--the perilous undertakings of the night of April 13 would not constitute a part of the normal obligation of a ship's agent at a port of call. 218 F.2d at 633. The ship's agent had assisted in firefighting efforts, transported the crew of the damaged vessel to shore, and thrice attempted to tow the tanker to a safer position in the face of rough seas. In contrast, the services performed by Nunley on the evening of July 24 and morning of July 25 were precisely those activities associated with dewatering a vessel; activity which by Nunley's own account ChemLink had previously agreed to perform. 46 In the third case, Fort Myers Shell and Dredging Co. v. Barge NBC 512, 404 F.2d 137 (5th Cir.1968) Fort Myers agreed to meet the Tug Nellie at a sea buoy off Sanibel Island and there tow two steel barges up the Caloosahatchie River into port, delivering them to a third tug, the Leon Roddy. The price for the towing job was set at $1,000. Before the Fort Myers tug arrived, the two barges were separated from the Nellie and washed ashore on Fort Myers Beach. The Nellie ran aground farther up the coast. The court described the ensuing events as follows: 47 Fort Myers put watchmen on the barges and telephoned Edmonson and Edmonson's towing broker, either or both of whom requested that Fort Myers do what it could to free the barges and turn them over to the Tug Leon Roddy. According to the testimony of the two officers of Fort Myers, further conversations were had with Edmonson, the respondent Oliver, and the United States Salvage Association, each of whom said that he would see that Fort Myers would be compensated but none of whom made an explicit offer to pay. 48 On Saturday morning Fort Myers' tug ... proceeded down the Caloosahatchie River and, after pulling the Tug Nellie off the flats, located the two barges. The barges were positioned in tandem above the normal high water mark, parallel to the shoreline, near the remaining pilings of an old dock. For the remainder of Saturday the [Fort Myers tug] tried unsuccessfully to float the barges. On the following day she was joined by another of Fort Myers' tugs and by the Leon Roddy and after considerable effort the three succeeded in refloating both stranded vessels. The Leon Roddy towed one barge into port. Fort Myers, claiming to have received no clear promises of payment from any of the other parties, retained the other barge to secure payment of its fees. 49 Fort Myers, 404 F.2d at 138. Once again, these activities went significantly beyond those contemplated by the parties when the original agreement was forged. 50 The Lago court, in interpreting The CAMANCHE, noted that only where the contract entered into is shown to enclose the entire undertaking, will it be a bar to recovery. 218 F.2d at 634. We agree. As has been shown, ChemLink's agreement with the DAUNTLESS fairly contemplated the efforts of Captain Nunley on Sunday evening and Monday morning. His actions were not, therefore, the voluntary conduct of a salvor.