Eagle Terminal Tankers, Inc. v. Insurance Company of the U.S.S.R. (Ingosstrakh), LTD.
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
637 F.2d 890 (1981)
- Written by Alex Ruskell, JD
Facts
A vessel owned by Eagle Terminal Tankers, Inc. (Eagle) (plaintiff) damaged its propeller while transporting grain to Leningrad, Russia. Before Eagle’s vessel could continue, it had to sail to a harbor, temporarily offload cargo, and conduct repairs. The vessel then successfully completed its voyage. Eagle declared a general average, seeking contribution for expenses arising from the repairs from Insurance Company of the U.S.S.R. (Ingosstrakh), LTD. (Insurance) (defendant) as the insurer of the cargo. The expenses included in the statement of general average were the costs of unloading and loading the cargo and maintaining the vessel’s crew during the repair period. Insurance refused to pay, and Eagle sued. The court ruled in Insurance’s favor, finding that the repair was not the type of imminent peril necessary for a general-average claim because the vessel could have stayed safely moored in harbor forever. The court noted that, traditionally, such claims were limited to situations in which cargo had to be jettisoned at sea to save a vessel from sinking. Eagle appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Feinberg, C.J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 811,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.