towage

The supplying of power by a vessel, usually one propelled by steam, to tow or draw another is towage.

* The act of towing or drawing ships and vessels, usually by means of a small steamer called a tug. Towage service is confined to vessels who have received no injury or damage; Mc- Connochie v. Kerr, 9 Fed. 53. Where towage is rendered in the rescue or relief of a vessel from imminent peril, it becomes salvage service, entitled to be compensated as such; 6 N. Y. Leg. Obs. 223. Where a service was salvage, one claiming it to have been a towage service must plead and prove a contract; The Lowther Castle, 195 Fed. 604. A tug, sometimes called towing or tow-boat, while not heljd to the responsibility of a common carrier, is bound to exercise reasonable care and skill in everything pertaining to its employment; The James Jackson, 9 Fed. 614; The E. V. Mac Caulley, 84 Fed. 500; The City of New York, 54 Fed. 181, 4 C. C. A. 268, 14 U. S. App. 39; Vessel Owners T. Co. v. Wilson, 63 Fed. 626, 11 C. C. A. 366, 24 U. S. App. 49; The Blue Bell, 1S9 Fed. 824; taking into consideration the fact that it contracts as an expert and is bound to know the channel, its usual currents and dangers, and to avoid obstructions ^which ought to be known to men experienced in its navigation; The El Rio, 162 Fed. 567. A tug is the dominant mind, and the tow must follow her directions; The Fort George, 183 Fed. 731, 106 C. C. A. 169. Proof of a loss suffered by tow does not raise a presumption of negligence on the part of the tug > The Webb, 14 Wall. (U. S.) 406, 20 L. Ed. 774; The A. R. Robinson, 57 Fed. 667. Where two vessels, each in charge of a tug, came in collision from the faulty navigation of the tugs whose masters gave directions to the vessels which were obeyed, the tugs alone were held liable; The Doris Ecklioff, 50 Fed. 134, 1 C. C. A. 494, 1 U. S. App. 129. A steamship in charge of a tug is not liable in case of accident; International M. M. Co. v. Gaffney, 143 Fed. 305, 74 C. O. A. 443. Tugs cannot abandon their tows for slight causes; The Charles Runyon, 5G Fed. 312, 5 C. C. A. 514, 14 U. S. App. 410. The duty of a tug to tow is a continuous one from the time the service commences until it is completed, and where it becomes necessary to anchor the tow, the tug’s obligation of reasonable care continues at least until it bind the cargo owner by a contract with a tug; The Oceanica, 170 Fed. 893, 96 C. C. A. 69. See Tug. The burden of proving that a contract of towage was at the owner’s risk, is on the tug; The American Eagle, 54 Fed. 1010; The Snap, 24 Fed. 292. The use of long tow lines in New York Harbor, while not to be commended, does not render the tug liable for damages caused by her tow by collision with another vessel through the fault of the latter to which the length of the tow did not contribute; The Domingo De Larrinaga, 172 Fed. 264. An admiralty lien for towage is inferior to a statutory lien for repairs, the towage having been performed more than six months before, without effort to collect until after the repairs; The Sleepy Hollow, 114 Fed. 367.

The act or service of towing ships and vessels, usually by means of a small stcamer called a "tug." That which is given for towing ships In rivers. Towage is the drawing a ship or barge along the water by another ship or boat, fastened to her or by men or horses, etc., on land. It is also money which is given by bargemen to the owner of ground next a river, where they tow a barge or other vessel. Jacob. And see Ryan v. Hook, 34 Hun (N. Y.) l9l; The Kingaloch, 26 Eng. Law & Eq. 597; The Egypt (D. C.) 17 Fed. 370.

— Towage service. In admiralty law. A service rendered to a vessel, by towing, for the mere purpose of expediting her voyage, without reference to any circumstances of danger. It is confined to vessels that have'received no injury or damage. The Reward, 1 W. Rob. 177; The Athenian (D. Ct) 3 Fed. 249; McConnochin v. Kerr (D. Ct) 9 Fed. 53; The Plymouth Rock (D. C.) 9 Fed. 416.

1. The labor or service of drawing a vessel from one place to another, through the water. 2. The compensation or price paid for drawing a vessel. When it becomes especially desirable to distinguish these two, the drawing the vessel is termed towage service. Towage is the drawing a ship or barge along the water by another ship or boat, fastened to her, or by men or horses, &c., on land. It is also money which is given by bargemen to the owner of ground next a river, where they tow a barge or other vessel..Tacob. Towage service is aid rendered in the propulsion of a vessel, &c., irrespective of any circumstances of peril. The H. B. Foster, Abh. Adm. 222, 228. In the absence of a contract, the towing of a vessel, in peril or disabled, is salvage; but, as a convenient word to distinguish an ordinary ease of contract from one of salvage, " towage " is often used. Baker «. Hemenway, 2 Low. 501.

contracts, is that which is given for towing ships in rivers. uidon de la mer, ch. 16; Poth. Des Avaries, n. 147; 2 Chit. Com. Law, 16.