Corps Of Engineers Permit May Expose News

Under the general maritime law, a vessel owner has a duty to furnish a seaworthy vessel. A seaworthy vessel is one which is reasonably fit to carry the cargo it has undertaken to transport. II. Initially, a towboat operator has a duty to properly moor the barges it delivers, and breach of that duty imposes liability on the party delivering a vessel to the fleeter. When a towboat moors an unmanned barge or barges and those barges drift away from their moorings within a short time thereafter, there is a presumption of fault against the mooring vessel which shifts the burden of proof to the mooring vessel to show that it exercised due care. III. A terminal operator's duty to exercise reasonable care includes periodically inspecting barges in its custody.