281 F. 894 | D. Maryland | 1922
The libelant seeks to recover damages for misdelivery and for nondelivery of a consignment of bag rice shipped upon the steamship West Cawthon from the Orient to Havana. When the ship reached Cienfuegos, Cuba, at which she arrived in regular course before going to Havana, her master learned that the congestion in the harbor of the latter place was so great, and the available discharging and warehousing facilities were so limited, that it would not be possible, under the existing port regulations, for perhaps months, either to deliver the rice or to get out of the harbor. The evidence shows that he was right, and has convinced me that no prudent consignee would have wanted the attempt to have been made. The master
Under the very peculiar circumstances of this case, the ship must be held for their value; but that is all for which it is answerable.