Northern Insurance Co. of New York v. Chatham County

[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FILED
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
JAN 20, 2009
No. 08-12019 THOMAS K. KAHN
CLERK
D. C. Docket No. 03-00099-CV-WTM-1
NORTHERN INSURANCE COMPANY
OF NEW YORK, subrogated to the rights of
James K. Ludwig, Jr. and Carol C. Ludwig,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
CHATHAM COUNTY, GEORGIA,
Defendant-Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Georgia
(January 20, 2009)
Before BIRCH and PRYOR, Circuit Judges, and STROM,* District Judge.
STROM, District Judge:
*
Honorable Lyle E. Strom, Senior United States District Judge for the District of
Nebraska, sitting by designation.
This appeal arises out of an allision1 between Love of My Life, a yacht
owned by James and Carol Ludwig, and the Causton Bluff Bridge, a drawbridge
owned and operated by Chatham County, Georgia. The district court held a bench
trial on March 5, 2008, to determine liability and damages in this case, entering its
findings of fact and conclusions of law on March 26, 2008. Appellant Northern
Insurance Company of New York (“Northern”) argues that the district court erred
in finding that only a portion of the damage to the vessel was caused by the
allision, that Love of My Life was a pleasure craft, and that Northern was entitled
to simple interest at a rate of 4.75% per annum.
This Court reviews the factual findings of a district court sitting in admiralty
for clear error, and reviews de novo its conclusions of law. Dresdner Bank AG v.
M/V Olympia Voyager, 463 F.3d 1233, 1236 (11th Cir. 2006). A “district court’s
decision whether to award pre-judgment interest is reviewed for abuse of
discretion. The rate of prejudgment interest that should be awarded is the prime
rate during the relevant period.” Sunderland Marine Mut. Ins. Co. v. Weeks
Marine Const. Co., 338 F.3d 1276, 1280 (11th Cir. 2003) (internal citation
omitted).
1
An allision occurs when a moving vessel strikes a stationary object such as a dock.
Fischer v. S/Y NERAIDA, 508 F.3d 586, 589 n.1 (11th Cir. 2007).
2
Upon review of the record, the briefs and oral arguments of counsel, and the
applicable law, we conclude that the district court’s finding that part of the
damage to Love of My Life was not caused by the allision was not clearly
erroneous, nor did the court clearly err in finding that she was a pleasure craft.
Similarly, the district court did not abuse its discretion in awarding Northern
simple interest at 4.75%.
There being no reversible error, we affirm the judgment of the district court.
AFFIRMED.
3