Wemhoener Pressen v. Ceres Marine Terminals

Wemhoener Pressen (Wemhoener) (plaintiff) was a German company that manufactured hydraulic presses. Wemhoener contracted with Polish Ocean Lines (POL), a carrier, to ship a press by sea from Germany to Ohio. The press had to be placed in a crate on a specialized trailer. Wemhoener declined to declare a specific value for the press in the bill of lading that accompanied the crate. Wemhoener and POL’s contract incorporated provisions in the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act (COGSA). The contract also contained a clause authorizing POL to subcontract out portions of the carriage and providing that any legal protections enjoyed by POL would extend to any subcontractor. POL subcontracted with Ceres Marine Terminals, Inc. (Ceres) (defendant) to perform stevedoring and terminal services for the shipment at its initial United States destination in Maryland. Maryland state law prohibited certain limitation-of-liability clauses. The crate arrived in Maryland, was unloaded by Ceres, and held at Ceres’s terminal until railcars could take the press to Ohio. While using a cutting torch to remove the crate from the trailer, a Ceres employee set the crate on fire, damaging both the trailer and the press. The damage resulted in a permanent loss of performance to the press and decreased its value by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Wemhoener sued Ceres in district court. Ceres claimed that its liability was capped at $500 pursuant to COGSA and moved for summary judgment. The district court granted Ceres’s motion, and Wemhoener appealed.