92
If I might add, Mr. Chairman, I think not speaking for the Com-
mission, but I think their position has to be that all the consider-
ations that are going on since it is a special report to Congress is
something that is being done and it is not final yet; therefore, they
can't release it.
Mr. HUBBARD. Thank you very much.
Are there any other comments from Mr. Corrado, Mr. Luciano,
or Mr. Gotimer?
Let me ask, say it would be a real pleasure to hear from those
two rather shy fellows, Raymond Burke and Bob Phillips.
Mr. PHILLIPS. I would like to make a brief comment, if I may, Mr.
Chairman.
Mr. HUBBARD. Being an attorney myself, I can understand why
you want to say something.
Mr. PHILLIPS. This is directed at one of the more important topics
raised this morning, the Texaco Kentucky.
Mr. HUBBARD. Maybe I shouldn't have asked for your comment.
Mr. PHILLIPS. I would just like to say, Mr. Chairman, represent-
ing Texaco, despite the not always positive comments made about
the Kentucky performance this morning, I would like to assure you
over the years she has performed in a fashion that you, yourself,
and your constituents would be most proud of.
Mr. HUBBARD. I think it was the sight of that yacht that excited
it.
Mr. PHILLIPS. I think as shipowners sometimes say, Mr. Chair-
man, it is amazing how fixed objects like piers or in this case an-
chored boats have a tendency to move in front of the moving ves-
sels.
Mr. HUBBARD. Sounds very possible.
Mr. Burke?
Mr. BURKE. Not to be outdone, Mr. Chairman, I represent the
Overseas New York, the other vessel whose name was taken in
vain this morning. I would like to make a few comments.
You asked information about the cost of detention damages-the
cost to the shipowner for delays awaiting the BLI investigation.
My experience has been that for some of our client's larger ships
detention damages have been as high as $25,000 a day. In discuss-
ing this last week with Mr. Gotimer, I learned that on one of his
vessels, detention was as high as $45,000 a day. Our experience has
been that most of the delays have been approximately 24 hours.
There have been times when ships have been delayed longer than
that. Generally, if the ship is delayed longer, it is because the
board of investigation is busy handling another investigation; they
just didn't have the manpower to speed it up.
Just one other item: You asked Mr. Corrado about the effect of
the judicial review and how often courts disagreed with the find-
ings of the BLI and the Panama Canal Company. I think it would
be nearly impossible to document that. However, one of the effects
of having judicial review is that if initially the parties are unable
to come to an agreement with the Panama Canal authorities, the
existence of judicial review acts as an incentive to settle cases
before going to trial. In addition, there have been some signficant
decisions by what had been the district court for the Canal Zone
which from time to time disagreed with the findings and conclu-