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HQ 112634

August 16, 1993

VES-13-18 CO:R:IT:C 112634 JBW

CATEGORY: CARRIER

Deputy Regional Director
Commercial Operations
Pacific Region
1 World Trade Center
Long Beach, CA 90831

RE: Vessel Repair; Casualty; Negligence; Stevedoring Damage; 19 U.S.C. 1466(d); SEA-LAND EXPLORER, V-122; Entry No. C27- 0067825-6.

Dear Sir:

This letter is in response to your memorandum of March 16, 1993, which forwards for our review and ruling the petition for review filed in conjunction with the above-referenced vessel repair entry.

FACTS:

The record reflects that the subject vessel, the SEA-LAND EXPLORER, arrived at the port of Los Angeles, California, on April 26, 1992. Vessel repair entry, number C27-0067825-6, was filed on April 28, 1992. The entry indicated that the # 7B Hatch and Hatch Coaming were repaired while the vessel was docked in Kaohsuing, Taiwan. The hatch cover was damaged when longshoremen in Naha, Japan, dropped it from a crane. The vessel operator filed an application for relief. Citing the lack of adequate evidence to support the casualty claim, this office denied the application. Headquarters Ruling Letter 112394, dated December 14, 1992. The petitioner has submitted additional evidence to demonstrate the cause and extent of the casualty. This evidence includes copies of the vessel log, American Bureau of Shipping reports, and a statement by the Master attesting to the damage and the need for repairs.

ISSUE:

Whether the petitioner has submitted sufficient evidence to demonstrate that work performed on the vessel, which was required to repair damage that resulted from a stevedoring accident, is a casualty under 19 U.S.C. 1466.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Title 19, United States Code, section 1466, provides in pertinent part for payment of duty in the amount of 50 percent ad valorem on the cost of foreign repairs to vessels documented under the laws of the United States to engage in foreign or coastwise trade, or vessels intended to engage in such trade.

The statute provides for the remission of the above duties in those instances where good and sufficient evidence is furnished to show that foreign repairs were compelled by "stress of weather or other casualty" and were necessary to secure the safety and seaworthiness of the vessel to enable her to reach her port of destination. 19 U.S.C. 1466(d)(1). The term casualty, as it is used in the statute, has been interpreted as something that, like stress of weather, comes with unexpected force or violence, such as fire, explosion, or collision. Dollar Steamship Lines, Inc. v. United States, 5 Cust. Ct. 23, 28-29, C.D. 362 (1940). In the absence of evidence of such a casualty causing event, we must consider the repair to have been necessitated by normal wear and tear. C.S.D. 89-95, 23 Cust. B. & Dec., No. 43, 4, 5 (1989).

The Customs Service has held that damage caused by the negligence of stevedores is a casualty provided that the damage was not attributable to wear and tear or to the failure to replace or maintain a worn part. Headquarters Ruling Letter 111572, dated October 30, 1991; C.I.E. 1161/62, dated October 26, 1962. From the statement of the master, the log extracts, and the report of the American Bureau of Shipping surveyor, we conclude that the accident that occurred in Naha, Japan, was a casualty that impaired the safety and seaworthiness of the vessel. The cost for the repair of the hatch is consequently remissible.

HOLDING:

The petitioner has submitted sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the accident that occurred in Naha, Japan, was a casualty that impaired the safety and seaworthiness of the vessel. Accordingly, the cost of the hatch repair is remissible. The petition is allowed in full.

Sincerely,

Acting Chief

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