Overseas Tankship (U.K.) Ltd. v. Morts Dock & Engineering Co., Ltd. [Wagon Mound No. 1]

[1961] A.C. 388 (1961)

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
O
From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Overseas Tankship (U.K.) Ltd. v. Morts Dock & Engineering Co., Ltd. [Wagon Mound No. 1]

Privy Council
[1961] A.C. 388 (1961)

  • Written by Lauren Petersen, JD
Overseas Tankship (U.K.) Ltd. v. Morts Dock & Engineering Co., Ltd. [Wagon Mound No. 1]

Facts

Morts Dock & Engineering Co., Ltd. (Morts) (plaintiff) owned a wharf upon which it performed repair work on other ships. Morts used welding and burning techniques. A ship owned by Overseas Tankship (U.K.) Ltd. (Tankship) (defendant) was docked at the Sydney harbor at a neighboring wharf to Morts’. During this time, Tankships’ ship leaked oil into the harbor. After the ship set sail, the tide carried the oil near Morts’ wharf and required its employees to cease welding and burning. Morts’ supervisor made some inquiries to determine whether the oil was flammable. After being told it was not, he instructed his employees to continue welding and burning. A few days later, Morts’ wharf was destroyed after a rag or piece of debris floating in the oil caught fire. Morts brought suit against Tankship. At trial, the trial judge found that Tankship did not know and could not reasonably have been expected to know that the oil was capable of being caught on fire when spread over the surface of water. Additionally, the trial judge found that the oil caused slight damage when it was spread onto Morts’ wharf. The trial court granted judgment for Morts, and Tankship appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Viscount Simonds)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 804,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 804,000 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.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 804,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Torts

Key Terms

Related Videos