Case Study: Miss Behavin's Ship Breakdown

The case presented dictates eight parties involved. Those eight parties are the marina, Miss Behavin's ship keeper, Odd A Sea's ship keeper, Sea Duction, U.S. Coast Guard, the Ice Harbor Bridge operator, two injured civilians, and all damaged buildings. Evidence was presented to determine who has what claims. The ship Miss Behavin was not properly anchored. The marina's mooring shore anchor for the ship Miss Behavin was improperly constructed and maintained. Therefore, once the ice caused immense pressure onto the ropes and mooring shore anchor, the anchor gave way and the ship began to drift into the moving channel of the river. The only person aboard the Miss Behavin was the ship keeper whom was unable to properly operate the ship. Yet, the ship keeper did try to drop the ship's anchor but failed to do it correctly.
The ship Miss Behavin proceeded to strike the bow of a ship called the Odd A Sea which then broke loose of its mooring.
The ship keeper for the Odd A Sea wasn't present on the ship, he was visiting a girlfriend. However, if the ships managed to drop its anchor, it would be ineffective anyways due to the river bottom's condition. The Odd A Sea hit and damaged the ship Sea Duction which was moored next to it. The Miss Behavin and the Odd A Sea drifted down river toward the bridge. The marina called the Coast Guard, thus having the Coast Guard call the Ice Harbor Bridge operator whom did not answer because she was at a local tavern. Therefore, the bridge was not raised, wedging both ships against the bridge causing an ice dam. The bridge became damaged and caused injury to two civilians, and also overflowed the banks for two miles up river damaging buildings along the
river.

The principles of law that will be used in this case negligence and superseding or intervening causes. The principle of negligence refers both to a particular tort and to the manner in which it is breached. The tort of negligence imposes liability on anyone whose failure to exercise appropriate care puts another in unreasonable risk of harm. In terms of superseding or intervening cause is an independent cause that intervenes after an original wrongful act and produces a result that otherwise would not have followed and could not have reasonably been foreseen.

In this case, the marina is held in negligence. The marina owed a legal duty to the ship owners to properly secure the ship via the moorning shore anchor. The marina is liable for the damage to the ship Miss Behavin. The ship keeper's of the Miss Behavin and Odd A Sea are not liable because the first ship keeper didn't possess the necessary skills and the second ship keeper wasn't present. The marina is also liable for the damage done to the ship Odd A Sea and the Sea Duction. However, the marina is not liable for damage to the bridge, civilians that were injured, and buildings damaged due to the superseding or intervening cause. Thus, the operator of the bridge is liable for negligence due to not being present and providing a legal duty to operate the bridge. The bridge operator is liable for the damage done to the bridge, the two civilians whom were injured, and the buildings damaged due to the ice dam forming because of the wedged ships. The Coast Guard is not liable for anything because it tried to contact the bridge operator to prevent damage and injury.