The ‘Bogota,’ a steamer 415 feet long, was being towed out of a graving dock on the north bank of the Clyde, stern first, by a tug, the width of the river ex adverso of the dock being about 500 feet. When she was about two-thirds out of the dock and still athwart the river, her tug being about mid-channel, she sighted the ‘Alconda’ three-quarters of a mile away coming up the river under her own steam with two tugs attached. The ‘Bogota’ had steam up but was not using it, her intention being not to use it until she had been straightened out in the river preparatory to proceeding up stream. On sighting the ‘Alconda’ she gave four blasts of her steam whistle, twice repeated, to show that the river was blocked, and continued her maneuver. The master of the ‘Alconda’ heard the ‘Bogota’s’ signals and was aware of their meaning, viz., that the river was blocked. The ‘Alconda,’ however, held on her course, intending to pass between the ‘Bogota’s’ tug and the south bank of the river. In attempting to do so she collided with the ‘Bogota’s’ tug, forcing the tug back on the ‘Bogota,’ with the result that all three vessels were injured.
Held: (aff. judgment of the Second Division, diss. Lord Ormidale) that the ‘Alconda’ was solely to blame for the collision.
Judges:
Lord Dunedin, Lord Atkinson, Lord Shaw, Lord Phillimore, and Lord Blanesburgh
Citations:
[1924] UKHL 458, 61 SLR 458
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Transport
Updated: 17 June 2022; Ref: scu.631552