United States v. Ex-U.S.S. Cabot/Dedalo

The ex-U.S.S. Cabot/Dedalo (Cabot) (defendant) was a decommissioned navy aircraft carrier. For a time, a museum in Louisiana owned the Cabot and displayed it at a wharf near New Orleans. Another ship collided with the Cabot, and the Cabot became at risk of breaking free of the wharf, potentially resulting in the Cabot’s destruction. When the museum declined to protect the Cabot, the United States Coast Guard (plaintiff) voluntarily intervened. The Coast Guard spent over $500,000 to repair and transport the Cabot to a safe docking facility. Later, Pankaj Patel acquired the Cabot. Patel engaged Marine Salvage & Services, Inc. (Marine Salvage) (plaintiff) to temporarily hold the Cabot at a wharf in Texas. While the Cabot was wharfed, it began to lean to one side, indicating that it was in danger of capsizing. Capsizing would have destroyed all of the Cabot’s economic value. William Kennon, Marine Salvage’s president, could not obtain clear instructions from Patel about what Patel wanted Kennon to do to protect the Cabot. Kennon voluntarily chose to spend approximately $20,000 to stabilize the Cabot despite the endeavor being beyond Marine Salvage’s contractual obligations. The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas seized the Cabot and held a forced sale generating $185,000. The court then conducted proceedings to determine how the sale proceeds would be distributed to various claimholders, including the United States and Marine Salvage.