High court's safe-berth ruling favors shipowner over charterer

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that charterer Citgo is liable, not the shipowner, for the cost of cleaning up the 15-year-old Athos I oil spill in the Delaware River, deciding that the safe-berth clause in the charter contract should be interpreted as a safety warranty.

- Bill Bleyer

The tanker, chartered by Citgo Asphalt Refining Co. and other parties, hit an abandoned 9-ton anchor on Nov. 26, 2004, resulting in a spill of 264,000 gallons of heavy crude oil. The incident occurred as the 750-foot Cyprus-flagged and Tsakosmanaged ship was approaching its berth at a Citgo refinery in Paulsboro, N.J. The tanker was carrying 325,000 barrels, or about 13.6 million gallons, of Venezuelan crude.

After Athos I hit the anchor, crewmembers aboard two assisting tugboats noticed an oil slick coming from the 21-year-old, single-hull ship. It began to list 8 degrees to port and lost power. After tracing the leak, the crew transferred the oil to other tanks to avoid further spillage.

The next day, divers found a 6-foot gash in the No. 7 center cargo tank. Another underwater inspection on Nov. 28 revealed a smaller puncture near the gash. The No. 7 ballast tank also was breached.

The U.S. Coast Guard concluded there was no negligence or violation on the part of the ship’s crew or its pilot. Oil from the tanker drifted 115 miles downriver, impacting 280 miles of shoreline in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.