28 F. Supp. 585 | S.D.N.Y. | 1939
The letter dated April 18, 1938, addressed by the United States Gypsum Co. to the petitioner, wherein it informed the petitioner that 550 tons of plaster were a total loss and that it would hold the petitioner liable for all damage sustained through the sinking of the barge, constituted a “written notice of claim” within the meaning of 46 U.S.Code, § 185, 46 U.S.C.A. § 185, notwithstanding that the letter did not contain a statement of amount of damages claimed. Cf. Anchor Line v. Jackson, 2 Cir., 9 F.2d 543; Stiles v. Ocean S. S. Co., 2 Cir., 34 F.2d 627; The West Arrow, 2 Cir., 80 F.2d 853. This ruling does not impose any hardship upon the shipowner, who had a period of six months within which to investigate this claim and all the consequences of the sinking of its barge, and to determine the advisability of instituting a limitation of liability proceedings. Cf. The Grasselli Chemical Co., No. 4, D.C., 20 F.Supp. 394.