CITGO Asphalt Refining Co. v. Frescati Shipping Co.

CITGO Asphalt Refining Co. v. Frescati Shipping Co.
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued November 5, 2019
Decided March 30, 2020
Full case nameCITGO Asphalt Refining Company, et al., Petitioners v. Frescati Shipping Company, Ltd., et al.
Docket no.18-565
Citations589 U.S. ___ (more)
140 S. Ct. 1081; 206 L. Ed. 2d 391
Case history
Prior
  • In re Frescati Shipping Co., Ltd., No. 05-cv-00305, 2011 WL 1436878 (E.D. Pa. Apr. 12, 2011);
  • United States v. Citgo Asphalt Ref. Co., No. 08-cv-02898, 2011 WL 1379647 (E.D. Pa. Apr. 12, 2011);
  • Affirmed in part, vacated in part, 718 F.3d 184 (3d Cir. 2013);
  • Cert. denied, 571 U.S. 1197 (2014);
  • No. 05-cv-00305, 2016 WL 4035994 (E.D. Pa. July 25, 2016);
  • Affirmed in part, reversed in part, 886 F.3d 291 (3d Cir. 2018);
  • Cert. granted, 139 S. Ct. 1599 (2019)
Holding
The plain language of the parties' safe-berth clause establishes a warranty of safety.
Court membership
Chief Justice
John Roberts
Associate Justices
Clarence Thomas · Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Stephen Breyer · Samuel Alito
Sonia Sotomayor · Elena Kagan
Neil Gorsuch · Brett Kavanaugh
Case opinions
MajoritySotomayor, joined by Roberts, Ginsburg, Breyer, Kagan, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh
DissentThomas, joined by Alito

CITGO Asphalt Refining Co. v. Frescati Shipping Co., 589 U.S. ___ (2020), was a United States Supreme Court case dealing with the responsibility of costs of cleanup resulting from a 2004 oil spill on the Delaware River near Paulsboro, New Jersey from the result of a hull rupture. The ship's owner, the Frescati Shipping Company, was responsible for the costs of the cleanup, coming to more than US$143 million, but under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, believed that Citgo, who had ordered the shipment, bore responsibly for the shipping route through shallow waters that led to the spill. After years of litigation, the Supreme Court ruled in its 7–2 decision that the contract language established between Citgo and Frescati established that Citgo would provide safe berth for the vessel, and thus ultimately responsible for the spill.[1]

  1. ^ CITGO Asphalt Refining Co. v. Frescati Shipping Co., No. 18-565, 589 U.S. ___ (2020).