a vessel moored in a proper and reasonable manner has been held not liable for injuries to another vessel against which she drifted on breaking loose in consequence of the insufficiency of a spile, of which she could have no knowledge, in conjunction with a very high tide and an extraordinary gale, shifting to a quarter bearing most heavily upon her, 1

16

.17

§ 6844. General Duties of Moored Vessel.-A moored vessel must not unnecessarily embarrass the manœuvres of vessels seeking to emerge from inside berths ;" and should move temporarily away from the place of mooring where necessary, after reasonable notice has been given.18 Old and weak boats should not expose themselves along slips and wharves to the danger of ordinary contact with other boats, without giving notice of their weakness. 19 Harbor regulations require the presence of some one in charge on board the moored vessel;20 and the law requires the exercise of reasonable care in the selection of the party in charge;21 but the fact that an inexperienced person was selected will not be considered where the selection of the inexperienced person did not contribute to the collision, and it would not have been averted by the selection of a more competent person.22

§6845. Duty where Moored Alongside Other Vessels. It is the duty of vessels moored alongside other vessels to take every reasonable precaution to avoid interference with or doing injury to such other vessels. 23 Where a vessel is moored in an exposed position, so that in case of storm she will be liable to do damage by pounding, it is her duty to use reasonable diligence in watching for approaching danger, and, when danger is imminent, to take all effective and prompt means

"The Mary L. Cushing, 65 Fed. Rep. 528; s. c. 13 C. C. A. 34. "McNeil v. Jones, 26 N. S. 299. The Etruria, 88 Fed. Rep. 555. But see Saulter v. New York &c. S. S. Co., 88 N. C. 123; s. c. 43 Am. Rep. 736. A tug moored at a dock will not be held negligent in not moving away, where a steamer proceeding along a narrow channel begins to sheer when two hundred feet away from the tug, and there being but a few seconds in which to perform the act of getting out of the way: The Syracuse, 84 Fed. Rep. 1005.

"The N. B. Starbuck, 29 Fed. Rep. 797.

Dalzell v. Watt, 116 Fed. Rep. 34; The H. B. Moore, Jr., 116 Fed.

Rep. 84; The Niobe, 31 Fed. Rep. 164.

21 O'Reilly v. New Brunswick &c. Co., 26 Misc. (N. Y.) 195; s. c. 55 N. Y. Supp. 1133.

22 The Syracuse, 84 Fed. Rep. 1005. 23 Call v. The Addie Schlaefer, 37 Fed. Rep. 382; The John Cottrell, 34 Fed. Rep. 907. Where a vessel is placed, with knowledge of the depth of water, and of the fact that she will ground as the tide goes out, on the outside of a smaller vessel lying at the wharf, in such a position that as the tide goes out she lists over and jams the smaller vessel against the wharf, she is liable for the damage thereby caused: Meyers v. The America, 38 Fed. Rep. 256.

that may be at hand to avert damage.24 A vessel lying alongside another vessel, and sufficiently secured for all ordinary contingencies, will not be liable for injuries occasioned by her being forced into collision with the other vessel by unexpected conditions,-as where she is drifted against the vessel by a tier of boats breaking loose against her with such force as to break her fastenings.2

25

§ 6846. Vessels Lying at End of Pier.-A statute of New York makes it unlawful for a vessel to lie at the end of a pier, where she is liable to be injured by vessels entering the adjacent slips, and denies to such vessel a recovery for injury sustained while so unlawfully situated.26 The statute receives a strict construction, and has been held inapplicable where vessels lying at the end of a pier are injured by vessels attempting to enter some other than the adjacent pier or dock.27

§ 6847. Vessel Moored so as to Project beyond End of Pier or Dock. The fact that a vessel is moored so as to project slightly beyond her pier or dock will not amount to an interference with channel navigation, where there is a rule prohibiting vessels from navigating near piers; and such a mooring of the vessel, though negligent, will not be regarded as the sole cause of a collision with her by a vessel navigating the channel.28 The case is different where the projecting vessel interferes with the entrance of another vessel to a near-by slip or wharf: here the colliding vessel will be held free from fault where navigating with care to avoid the obstruction in her path.29

24 The Lillian M. Vigus, 22 Fed. Rep. 747.

and projecting into the river fifteen feet beyond the end of pier 48,

25 The Nora Costello, 46 Fed. Rep. which projects no farther than the 869.

other piers, and the steamship took a line on her starboard bow from pier 47, but kept on with the flood tide until her bow was opposite pier 48 and the canal-boat, when her bow was drawn in by the line and her stern carried out by the tide, causing her to strike and sink the canalboat, of which no one was in charge at the time: The Canima, 32 Fed. Rep. 302; aff'g s. c. 17 Fed. Rep. 271. Where a schooner, whether her bows actually projected beyond the end of the pier at which she was lying or not, obstructed and interfered with the usual course that a ferryboat was entitled to take upon the ebb tide, and had been repeatedly requested to move out of the way of the ferryboat, and as situated was violating the rules of the harbor

$6848. Fault where Vessel Moored in an Exposed Position.-On the question of fault for collision with a vessel moored in an exposed. position, it has been pertinently observed that: "The fact that a ressel has no business to be where she is,' or to go where she goes," is "chiefly pertinent as respects her own fault. As respects the other ressel, the question is whether she has any business to be where she is, and whether she contributes to the injury by her fault also. The inquiry whether a vessel voluntarily moored in an exposed position is or is not in fault because of her exposure, and of her liability to be injured herself or to injure another vessel by some accident or mistake or fault of the latter in approaching her, is doubtless a question of practical judgment, to. be determined according to all the circumstances of the situation."30

$6849. Hawsers Stretched Across Slip.-A ship lying at a pier will be held in fault for stretching a hawser across the slip to the opposite pier in the night, without any warning to other vessels having occasion to use the slip, and will be liable to a vessel free from fault for injuries caused by collision therewith.31

§ 6850. Presumption of Fault.-The presumption that a collision between a vessel under way and a moored vessel was due to the fault of the moving vessel, must be overcome, if at all, by direct and positive proof that such was not the case.3

SECTION

32

ARTICLE III. OTHER VESSELS NOT UNDER WAY.

6853. Vessels aground.

6854. Vessels at rest.

masters, which require both that such vessels shall lie with their bows in and also so as not to obstruct and interfere with the ferryboats of the city, the schooner was chargeable with fault contributing to the resulting collision. But where the position of the schooner was such that her masts, bowsprit, and b-boom were all in plain sight before the ferryboat reached the pier, and they were not noticed until within fifty yards, this indicated a jack of proper lookout on board the ferryboat; and where she might, by proceeding a few feet farther to the Southward, have avoided the injury,

SECTION

6855. Dredging and wrecking vessels and floating elevators.

she was held to have contributed thereto through her failure to keep a proper lookout and exercise reasonable care: The Fort Lee, 31 Fed. Rep. 570.

30 The Mary Powell, 31 Fed. Rep.

622.

31 Erie R. Co. v. Oceanic Steam Nav. Co., 121 Fed. Rep. 440; The Fulda, 31 Fed. Rep. 351 (partial lighting up of slip from vessel insufficient).

32 The St. John, 54 Fed. Rep. 1015; The Bulgaria, 74 Fed. Rep. 898; Charlton v. The Colorado, 3 Can. Exch. 263.

1

§ 6853. Vessels Aground. It is the duty of a vessel aground to make her situation known to approaching vessels. A passing vessel should give a vessel aground a sufficiently wide berth to clear her without risk of collision. But a passing steamer having the right of way will not be held in fault for failing to sound a signal to indicate which side she expects to take, when the other vessel is aground; since the grounded vessel could not in any way be influenced by such signal. A vessel aground endeavoring to get off must use reasonable care in this manœuvre; and, if necessary to the safety of a passing vessel, she should suspend her efforts in this direction until such vessel has passed. So, her master must be ready to control her movements when she comes off the ground under the effect of the rise of the water or wind.5

§ 6854. Vessels at Rest.-A vessel at rest is, with respect to moving vessels, regarded as a vessel at anchor, and is to be avoided;" and the starboard rule does not apply, this rule being applicable only to vessels in motion. It is the duty of a vessel at rest to keep her position and not embarrass a moving vessel, either by unnecessary movements or by misleading signals. A vessel at rest must also maintain a

7

1 The Maurice B. Grover, 92 Fed. Rep. 678; s. c. 34 C. C. A. 616; The F. W. Wheeler, 78 Fed. Rep. 824; The Industrie, L. R. 3 Adm. & Ecc. 303; s. c. 40 L. J. Adm. 26.

2 The City of Macon, 121 Fed. Rep. 686; s. c. 58 C. C. A. 434; aff'g s. c. 100 Fed. Rep. 139; The Drew, 22 Fed. Rep. 852 (nearness caused injury by swell).

3 The Maurice B. Grover, 92 Fed. Rep. 678; s. c. 34 C. C. A. 616.

4

The John Craig, 66 Fed. Rep. 596; The Cherokee, 15 Fed. Rep. 119.

The F. W. Fosburgh, 107 Fed. Rep. 539; Humphreys v. Charles Warner Co., 45 Fed. Rep. 270. The owner of a car-float, which has repeatedly grounded at low tide at the dock where she lies, is under the duty of exercising a very high degree of care on leaving her there without a watchman, to secure her so that the list she may be expected to take in case of an unusual fall of the tide will be successfully overcome, so that she shall not break adrift and collide with other vessels: Pennsylvania R. Co. v. Campbell, 85 Fed. Rep. 462; s. c. 55 U. S. App. 413; 29 C. C. A. 268.

The W. H. Beaman, 45 Fed. Rep.

125; The Bowden, 78 Fed. Rep. 649; The Columbia, 27 Fed. Rep. 238. While the steamship Cambridge, with passengers, was lying at rest with other vessels awaiting the starting of some racing yachts in the vicinity of Sandy Hook lightship, the steamship Ponce approached astern and on the starboard side. When she was 150 feet distant, coming directly toward the Cambridge, and having made no signal, the Cambridge blew an alarm signal, and started ahead with a port helm. The Ponce also blew an alarm, but came ahead, although with reversed engines, striking the Cambridge on the starboard side a little aft of amidships. It was held that the Ponce was clearly in fault for the collision, and that the Cambridge was not in fault for her attempted manœuvre after collision appeared inevitable, it not appearing, moreover, that her action was not proper under the circum. stances: The Ponce, 116 Fed. Rep. 55.

The Bristol, 11 Fed. Rep. 156; The Wesley A. Gove, 27 Fed. Rep. 311; The America, 29 Fed. Rep. 304. The Bristol, 11 Fed. Rep. 156.

lookout in order that approaching vessels may be apprised of her helpless condition."

$6855. Dredging and Wrecking Vessels and Floating Elevators. -Dredges at work and stationary are regarded as vessels at anchor.10 A derrick-boat, on the other hand, has been held not entitled to all the immunities of vessels anchored on anchorage grounds; and the mere fact of collision with such a vessel is not prima facie evidence of negligence, as in an ordinary case of collision with a wharf or with a vessel moored at a wharf or upon anchorage grounds.11 A dredgingboat, on the approach of other vessels, should keep its position,1 12 and maintain efficient lookouts. 13 A floating elevator requires a high degree of skill in its navigation in a high wind, and it is the duty of the pilot to use commensurate precautions to prevent a collision with another vessel during a windstorm.14