Laichkwiltach Enterprises Ltd. v. F/V Pacific Faith (Ship)

This was an action for damages arising out of a collision. The plaintiff’s ship was moored at a wharf when the defendant’s vessel struck it while attempting to dock. The trial Judge held that the defendants were prima facie negligent as there is a presumption of fault when a moored vessel is struck by a moving vessel. The trial Judge accepted that there was a clutch failure on the defendant’s vessel but, in the absence of evidence of the history or maintenance of the clutch, this did not absolve the defendant of liability. The plaintiff sought a total of $105,000 in damages including approximately $14,000 for lost fishing income. The trial Judge, however, found that the plaintiff had failed to prove much of the damages it claimed and those damages it had proved were reduced by 67% to reflect “new for old” or betterment. Part of the reason for the lack of proof was the trial Judge gave no weight to the opinions of the plaintiff’s expert because the expert’s report had apparently been drafted by a lawyer and the trial Judge was uncertain as to whose opinions were expressed in the report. The claim for lost income was denied on the grounds that the plaintiff had unreasonably delayed in effecting the repairs. The plaintiff appealed the damages issues. The Court of Appeal refused to intervene with respect to the findings of what had been damaged. These were findings of fact that were supported by the evidence. With respect to "betterment" the plaintiff/appellant argued that this concept did not apply to admiralty cases. The Court of Appeal disagreed holding that betterment was commercially realistic. The Court of Appeal did, however, find that the Trial Judge had not properly calculated the betterment. The Court noted that betterment calculations must be reasonable and fair to both parties and that it must be remembered that the cause of immediate repairs was the tortious act of the defendant/respondent. In result, the Court of Appeal adjusted the betterment reduction from 67% to 33%.