In the Matter of the Complaint of Archer Daniels Midland Company and American…

Background

Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) and American River Transportation Company LLC (ARTCO) filed this action under the Limitation of Liability Act and the federal maritime procedure governing limitation proceedings. They sought exoneration from, or limitation of, liability concerning an October 26, 2017 marine casualty. The opinion states that barge ART-35157, while being towed by the M/V COOPERATIVE VENTURE, collided with a pier of the Pigs Eye Bridge near South St. Paul, Minnesota.

The court approved the petitioners’ interim stipulation concerning the value at issue, ordered notice to potential claimants, and set July 9, 2018, as the deadline for filing claims. ADM and ARTCO published the required notice. Union Pacific Railroad Company, identified as the owner and operator of the bridge, timely answered and asserted a third-party claim against Upper River Services, LLC. Upper River Services timely answered that third-party complaint. The opinion does not identify any other potential claimant that filed a timely claim.

Rulings

ADM, ARTCO, Union Pacific, and Upper River Services later filed a stipulation agreeing to dismiss with prejudice all claims between them under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)(ii). The court ordered that Union Pacific’s claims against the petitioners and Upper River Services were dismissed with prejudice, with each party bearing its own costs and attorneys’ fees.

The court also granted the petitioners’ Motion for Default Judgment. It directed the clerk to enter default under Rule 55(a) against all people or entities that did not file timely claims. The court entered default judgment against all people or entities with claims concerning the October 26, 2017 collision who failed to timely file an answer or claim as the court had ordered.

Reasoning

The court concluded that ADM and ARTCO properly initiated the limitation proceeding, that notice was issued, and that the July 9, 2018 filing deadline had expired. Based on the parties’ stipulation and the absence of timely claims from other properly noticed potential claimants, the court found default judgment warranted under the maritime limitation procedure. Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright then ordered dismissal with prejudice of the stipulated claims, entry of default against untimely claimants, and default judgment for the petitioners against the specified nonfiling claimants.