Cleveland & B. Transit Co. v. Insurance Co. of North America

Citations

• 115 F. 431
• 1902 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 232

Syllabus

<p>Marine Insurance — Construction of Policy — Inchmaree Clause.</p> <p>A time policy of marine insurance on a new lake steamboat contained the Inchmaree clause, providing, inter alia: “This insurance also specially to cover loss of, or damage to, the hull or machinery, * * * through any latent defect in the machinery or hull, provided such loss or damage has not resulted from want of due diligence by the owners.” The vessel was constructed by builders of the best reputation, under competent supervision, and no expense was spared by the owners to make her reasonably perfect. At the end of one of her first voyages the engine bedplate was found to be cracked, and it subsequently became necessary to replace it. The injury was due to a latent defect in the casting, not discoverable until it was broken up, which the evidence tended to show was brought to the surface, fracturing the plate, by an unusual shock to the engine caused by a small quantity of water getting into the cylinders. Held, that such defect, while it existed when the policy was written, was not one which rendered the vessel unsea worthy in the ordinary sense, to prevent the attaching of the policy, and that under its provisions the insurer was liable for the damage, 1</p>