Owners of Motorship or Vessel "N.O. Rogenaes" v Owners of Motorship or Vessel "Prins Alexander" et è Contra
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Viscount Simonds,Lord Morton of Henryton,Lord Tucker,Lord Somervell of Harrow |
| Judgment Date | 23 June 1955 |
| Judgment citation (vLex) | [1955] UKHL J0623-1 |
| Date | 23 June 1955 |
| Court | House of Lords |
[1955] UKHL J0623-1
House of Lords
Viscount Simonds
Lord Morton of Henryton
Lord Tucker
Lord Somervell of Harrow
After hearing Counsel, as well on Monday the 16th, as on Tuesday the 17th. Wednesday the 18th and Thursday the 19th days of May last (Captain R. W. Ravenhill, C.B.E., D.S.C., R.N., and Captain W. R. Chaplin, an Elder Brother of the Trinity Corporation, being present as Nautical Assessors), upon the Petition and Appeal of the Owners of the Motorship or Vessel "N.O. Rogenaes", praying. That the matter of the Order set forth in the Schedule thereto, namely, an Order of Her Majesty's Court of Appeal of the 13th of April 1954, might be reviewed before Her Majesty the Queen, in Her Court of Parliament, and that the said Order might be reversed, varied or altered, or that the Petitioners might have such other relief in the premises as to Her Majesty the Queen, in Her Court of Parliament, might seem meet; as also upon the Petition and Cross Appeal of the Owners of the Motorship or Vessel "Prins Alexander", praying, That the matter of the Order set forth in the Schedule thereto, namely, an Order of Her Majesty's Court of Appeal of the 13th of April 1954, so far as therein stated to be appealed against, might be reviewed before Her Majesty the Queen, in Her Court of Parliament, and that the said Order, so far as aforesaid, might be varied or altered, and that the Petitioners might have the relief prayed for in the Cross Appeal, or such other relief in the premises as to Her Majesty the Queen, in Her Court of Parliament, might seem meet; as also upon the printed Case of the Owners of the Motorship or Vessel "Prins Alexander"; and also upon the printed Case of the Owners of the Motorship or Vessel "N.O. Rogenaes", lodged in the said Original and Cross Appeals; and due consideration had this day of what was offered on either side in these Appeals:
It is Ordered and Adjudged, by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in the Court of Parliament of Her Majesty the Queen assembled, That the said Order of Her Majesty's Court of Appeal, of the 13th day of April 1954, complained of in the said Original and Cross Appeals, be, and the same is hereby, Affirmed, and that the said Original and Cross Appeals be, and the same are hereby, dismissed this House: And it is further Ordered, That the said Owners of the Motorship or Vessel "N.O. Rogenaes" do bear and pay their own Costs in the Original and Cross Appeals to this House: And it is also further Ordered, That the said Owners of the Motorship or Vessel "N.O. Rogenaes" do pay, or cause to be paid, to the said Owners of the Motorship or Vessel "Prins Alexander" one third of the Costs incurred by them in respect of the said Original and Cross Appeals to this House, the amount thereof to be certified by the Clerk of the Parliaments.
My Lord,
I have had the privilege of reading in print the Speech which my noble and learned friend, Lord Somervell of Harrow, is about to deliver.
I concur so fully in his reasoning and conclusions that I do not think it necessary to add anything.
In due course I shall move that the appeal and cross-appeal be dismissed. I understand that the parties wish to address the House on the subject of costs, and therefore I will say nothing about costs until the House has had an opportunity of hearing them.
My Lords,
I have had the advantage of reading in print the Speech which is about to be delivered by my noble and learned friend, Lord Somervell of Harrow. I agree with his conclusion that both appeals should be dismissed with costs, and I agree with his reasoning, save that I should have been prepared to accept the findings of the Court of Appeal on all points, including the finding, as to which my noble and learned friend feels some doubt, that there was a breach of Article 16 by the "Rögenaes". I think that this finding was justified by the evidence of Loddon, the lookout man on that vessel.
I need not, however, detain your Lordships by a further discussion of this aspect of the case, since it is not suggested that the apportionment of the blame by the Court of Appeal should be disturbed.
My Lords,
I have had the advantage of reading in print the Speech which is to be delivered by my noble and learned friend, Lord Somervell of Harrow. I agree, for the reasons stated therein, that these appeals should be dismissed.
My Lords,
At about 4.16 a.m. G.M.T. on the 10th July, 1952, there was a collision between the s.s. "N. O. Rögenaes" owned by the Appellants and the M.V. "Prins Alexander" owned by the Respondents. The trial judge held the "Prins Alexander" wholly to blame and the Court of Appeal held the "Rögenaes" 75 per cent. and the "Prins Alexander" 25 per cent. to blame. Both sides appeal. The collision was in fog.
In what follows the times as given in the evidence have been reduced to G.M.T.
The "Rögenaes," 7247 tons gross register, about 441 feet in length, triple expansion engines, was on a voyage from Montreal to Antwerp fully laden. The "Prins Alexander," a steel screw motor vessel of 2322 tons gross register, 355 feet long, with a Stork Diesel engine, was on a voyage from Rotterdam to Quebec with about 1,480 tons of cargo. The collision was in the North Sea, a few miles north of the Straits of Dover, but the exact position is disputed.
The evidence given by the two sides as to the events leading up to the collision is irreconcilable. They may be summarised as follows. Both vessels were fitted with Radar.
The master of the "Rögenaes" stated that at about 3 a.m. he changed course to 058 ° proceeding at slow speed till 3.54 when he increased to half speed. At 3.59 he got an echo on the Planned Position Indicator, or PPI, of his Radar apparatus bearing about 6° on the port bow and about six miles away which appeared to be from a ship. The PPI was on the eight mile range. The bearing broadened. The "Rögenaes reduced to slow speed. The chief officer relieved the master at the PPI and the bearing was, he said, then 15°. He changed to the twenty mile range and took bearings of the North and South Forelands. He shifted back to the eight mile range and was not then sure of the bearing of the ship. He thought it was still about 15° or 16°. The master returned to the PPI and said that the ship when about half a mile away suddenly altered her course to port. According to his evidence that course involved danger of collision. He heard two blasts on the fog signal and put the engines full astern. This was at 4.12, the collision being four minutes later. The master saw the "Prins Alexander" about thirty yards before the collision. He gave a double ring for the engines and ordered hard aport to counteract the tendency of the ship to fall off her course with the engines astern. His vessel, he said, had no speed at the time of the collision. He thought the "Prins Alexander" had about four knots. The chief officer confirmed the latter part of this evidence. He also said that he checked the course which remained 058° up to the time of the collision. The angle of the collision was, according to the master, 45° and according to the chief officer 35°. The trial judge found about 40° and this is accepted.
Now for the other account. The master of the "Prins Alexander" said that at some considerable time before the accident he had altered course from 215° to 225°. At about 3 a.m. when it had become foggy, he saw on his PPI a ship on the port side which turned out to be a French tanker. He stopped in the water and the ship passed. At 3.44 he put his engines to full ahead. At some time not identified, but about or very shortly after 4.0 he saw an object, apparently a ship, on the PPI. It was 10° on the starboard bow and a little over five miles away. The bearing broadened. He recorded the bearings showing the progressive broadenings on a piece of paper which he produced, 235°, 240° and 246°. After that she did not broaden. She was then about one and a half to two miles away. He reduced to half speed at 4.7 a.m. before the bearing had ceased to broaden, though after she had first been seen. His course remained at 225°. When the bearings ceased to broaden, he stopped the engines at 4.9. He said that before the collision his ship had become stopped in...
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