Opinion ID: 2997131
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Oregon presumption applies.

Text: The parties agree that the allision with the 95th Street bridge was the result of the crew of the M/V Morgan losing control of the vessel due to the mechanical failure of the starboard winch. While the “parties have introduced evidence to dispel [some of] the mysteries” of what occurred during the accident, Rodi Yachts, Inc., 984 F.2d at 887, the M/V Morgan has not supplied any reason for the mechanical failure. The vessel asks this court to focus on its reaction once the mechanical failure occurred, however, this does not resolve the question of what caused the starboard winch brake to fail. This lack of an explanation is sufficient to find a “factual vacuum” meriting the application of the presumption. Furthermore, in Rodi Yachts, this court reasoned that “as between [a] drifting vessel and stationary object struck by it common sense suggests that the former is more likely to have been at fault than the latter. . . .” Id. at 886-87. Nor was the M/V Morgan’s contact with the 95th Street Bridge the type of “expected” and “minor” contact which occurs during a “normal docking.”12 See American Petrofina Pipeline Co., 837 F.2d at 1326 (arguing for the inapplicability of the Oregon presumption where the vessel was properly piloted, the contact made with the fender system occurred during a “normal docking” and was minimal, and the fenders were defective). It is undisputed that the barge contacted the bridge at an angle sharp enough for it to 12 We note that the M/V Morgan’s contention that the Oregon rule should not apply to “expected” or “minor” allisions is in fact a challenge to the district court’s factual findings that boats generally do not allide with the structure of a bridge at an acute angle and that the damage caused to the bridge was extensive. Therefore, the standard of review for these determinations is not the de novo standard applied to questions of law, but rather we review these findings to determine whether they are clearly erroneous. Folkstone Maritime, Ltd., 64 F.3d at 1048. No. 03-1789 13 enter the recessed slot which housed the electrical cables. The district court expressly found that common allisions do not occur at acute angles. Thus, the district court’s finding suggests that the allision at issue was not a common parallel rubbing which would constitute “expected” contact. Also, the western pier face of the bridge, which housed the severed cables, is outside the navigable waterway and therefore contact with this portion of the bridge is not “expected” or frequent. Lastly, the district court also correctly found that damage to the bridge was extensive. We recognize that the vessel was moving very slowly when impact was made, however, the speed of the tugboat is not determinative of whether the impact was minor. The contact caused substantial damage, in the amount of $625,128.11, and cannot be characterized as “minor.” Therefore, the district court properly applied the Oregon presumption of fault to the M/V Morgan.