Question

1. A coastal storm was approaching a New England harbor, where several ships were tied up to weather the storm. Contrary to policy, one of the boats was not manned during the storm during business hours by its captain, who had departed the ship until the storm passed. In the aftermath, the captain realized that the ship had loosened from its moorings in the waves and had barreled down the harbor during the storm, causing substantial property damage to several other ships also moored there. Should the owner of the ship be responsible for the damages caused by it being loose in the harbor during the storm?

Answer 1

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There is a well-established legal doctrine that almost everything that happens during a storm is classified as an “Act of God.” That means that if your roof blows off onto someone else’s house, you are not responsible for that damage. However, negligent behavior is excluded from that doctrine if resulting damage was preventable by taking reasonable precautions.

If a boat breaks loose and plows into a dozen other boats for want of taking action in the face of a storm, that boat owner may be also held liable. A boat owner is legally required to take “reasonable and prudent” actions to prevent his property from damaging others. Reasonable and prudent means such actions as any experienced boater would take, not a half-hearted effort for appearances sake. There are thousands of people who buy boats, park them somewhere far from home, and then forget about them, figuring that because it is insured, they can just forget about it and collect the insurance when it gets wrecked. That kind of thinking can cost one dearly.

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