Ishizaki Kisen Co. v. United States
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
510 F.2d 875, 1975 AMC 287 (1975)
- Written by Carolyn Strutton, JD
Facts
A collision between a Japanese passenger vessel and a United States Army vessel occurred within Japanese territorial waters. The owner of the Japanese vessel, Ishizaki Kisen Co. (plaintiff) sued the United States (defendant) in federal district court. The United States counterclaimed against Ishizaki Kisen. The court applied the law of Japan to the matter. Japan was a party to the Brussels Collision Convention of 1910, which abolished legal presumptions of fault in collisions and required damages to be apportioned according to fault. The court found that both vessels were at fault and apportioned damages one-fourth to the United States vessel and three-fourths to the Japanese vessel. Both parties filed interlocutory cross-appeals. Ishizaki Kisen claimed that the court should have applied the Pennsylvania rule, which held that a violation of a rule of safe navigation will be presumed to be the cause of a maritime collision unless the violating party can prove that the violation could not have been the cause.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Sneed, J.)
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