Opinion ID: 497009
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: chevron's claims against great lakes

Text: 78 On appeal, Chevron argues that the district court erred by denying its complaint seeking limitation of liability under the 135-year old Limitation of Liability Act, 46 U.S.C. Sec. 183 (1986). According to that act, the 79 liability of the owner of any vessel, whether American or foreign, for any embezzlement, loss, or destruction by any person of any property, goods, or merchandise shipped or put on board of such vessel, or for any loss, damage, or injury by collision, or for any act, matter, or thing, loss, damage, or forfeiture, done, occasioned, or incurred, without the privity of knowledge of such owner or owners, shall not ... exceed the amount or value of the interest of such owner in such vessel, and her freight then pending. 80 Id. Sec. 183(a). As this court has detailed, 81 a determination of whether a shipowner is entitled to limit his liability involves a two-step analysis.... First, the court must determine what acts of negligence or conditions of unseaworthiness caused the accident. Second, the court must determine whether the shipowner had knowledge or privity of those same acts of negligence or conditions of unseaworthiness. Moreover, once a claimant satisfies the initial burden of proving negligence or unseaworthiness, the burden of proof shifts to the shipowner to prove the lack of privity or knowledge. 82 Hercules Carriers, Inc. v. Claimant State of Florida, 768 F.2d 1558, 1563-64 (quoting Farrell Lines, Inc. v. Jones, 530 F.2d 7 (5th Cir.1976)) (other citations omitted). 83 In the limitation of liability context, the district court's findings about negligence, unseaworthiness, privity, and knowledge are considered on appeal to be factual findings subject to review under the clearly erroneous standard. See Hercules Carriers, Inc., 768 F.2d at 1565. Chevron argues in this appeal, however, that the district court erred as a matter of law in finding negligence, privity, and knowledge. Because we read the district court's opinion differently than Chevron, and we think Chevron misunderstands the lower court's holding, we affirm the district court's refusal to allow Chevron to limit its liability. 84 According to Chevron's briefs on appeal, the district court ruled that Chevron was negligent because a critical Notice to Mariners discussing the dredging operation was not on board the Robert Watt Miller at the time of the collision. Chevron points to the district court's statement that there is no evidence that the notice ... ever reached the Robert Watt Miller, 613 F.Supp. at 1437, and argues that the district court impermissibly shifted the burden of proof on the issue of negligence away from Great Lakes and onto Chevron. Chevron argues that while there was no evidence that the notice was on the ship, there also was no evidence that the notice was not on the ship. Thus, according to Chevron, Great Lakes did not carry its burden of proof. See Hercules Carriers, Inc., 768 F.2d 1564. 85 Chevron, however, mischaracterizes the district court's holding. In the district court's opinion, the question of the Notice to Mariners does not form the basis of the negligence proven by Great Lakes, but instead goes to privity, an issue on which Chevron has the burden of proof. The negligence found by the district court is in the fact that Chevron allowed the master of its ship to sail into unfamiliar waters completely unaware of the dangers that lay in its path. 613 F.Supp. at 1437. Having made this finding of negligence (which is supported by the record), the district court turned to the issue of privity. The burden was then on Chevron to prove that it was unaware of the potential problem. On that issue, the district court looked to adequacy of the distribution system for maritime notices and found it lacking. Because the district court ruled that Chevron should have been aware of the faults in its information dissemination system, the court ruled that Chevron was not entitled to limit its liability. Id. After having reviewed the record, and taking into account the shifting burdens of proof, we cannot say that the district court was clearly erroneous in any of its findings on this point. We thus affirm the denial of Chevron's complaint seeking to limit its liability. 15