Freeport Sulphur Co. v. S/S Hermosa

The S.S. Hermosa (defendant) was a ship owned by Pansuiza Ompania de Navigacion, S.A. (Pansuiza) (defendant). The Hermosa severely damaged a dock owned by Freeport Sulphur Co. (Freeport) (plaintiff) while attempting to moor at the dock. Freeport repaired the dock. At the time of the accident, the dock had 25 years of useful life remaining. After the repairs, which cost $84,141.20, the dock’s useful life was 35 years. Freeport sued Pansuiza for damages, and the trial court awarded Freeport damages of the repair cost of the dock reduced by the percentage of useful-life extension. The trial court used a denominator of 25 in determining that percentage rather than 35. The trial court also awarded Freeport damages for the cost of having to pay for a useful-life extension of the dock many years before necessary. Pansuiza appealed, arguing that the trial court improperly calculated damages. Pansuiza argued, among other things, that straight-line depreciation should have been used to reduce the award for the extension of the dock’s useful life, or if the formula for percentage of useful-life extension was appropriate, then the court did not calculate the percentage correctly. Pansuiza also argued the award should not have included anything to compensate Freeport for the earlier-than-otherwise-necessary extension of the dock’s useful life.