Logistec Stevedoring Inc. v. Amican Navigation Inc. et al.

This was an action by the Plaintiff stevedoring company to recover $240,000.00 in stevedoring charges. The Defendants were the shipowner and the shipowner’s general agent. The shipowner did not appear at the trial and default judgment was given against it. The agent argued that it had contracted with the Plaintiff as agent only and was therefore not personally liable to the Plaintiff. On the particular facts of the case, the Court held that the agent was personally liable to the Plaintiff. The Court noted that, although some of the agent’s correspondence with the Plaintiff identified it as the “general agent” for the shipowner, the agent failed to indicate to the Plaintiff that it was contracting “as agent only”.