American Steamship Co. v. Hallett Dock Co.

American Steamship Co. sued Hallett Dock Co. and others on a negligence theories claiming that the partial sinking of 1,000-foot-long Walter J. McCarthy Jr. at a Superior dock five years ago in Duluth, Minnesota was caused by the failure of the defendants' employees to exercise due care.



The McCarthy's engine room flooded Jan. 14, 2008, after a submerged object ripped a 7-by-4-foot hole in the ship's bottom as it backed into a slip. The ship's stern settled to the bottom in about 20 feet of water, with water covering the ship's four 3,500-horsepower General Motors Electro Motive Division diesel engines.



American Steamship claimed the ship's hull was punctured by a large, submerged piece of concrete and rebar, and that Hallett Dock was negligent in not informing the ship's crew of its presence or in marking the area as hazardous.



Hallet denied fault and claimed that ice could have caused the hole in the ship's hull. It also claimed that the captain, Lawrence Smyth, was incompetent and lazy for not taking soundings in the slip and for not knowing the point he was not to pass. If you are given a stopping point, you "better damn well know where it is.”





See: Duluth News Tribune

Plaintiff's verdict for $4.7 million.