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1. If the Panama Canal personnel are at fault for vessel damage, the Panama
Canal Commission should pay for it, wherever the casualty occurs.
2. In determining fault our Federal court system is the usual forum in admiralty
cases, but this forum is denied shipowners insofar as casualties occurring outside of
the locks are concerned.
Accordingly, we recommend that the claims procedure for injuries occurring out-
side of the locks set forth in Sec. 1412 of the Panama Canal Act of 1979 be modified
to:
1. Permit the Panama Canal Commission to adjust and pay damages without limi-
tation of amount, and
2. Permit a claimant who considers himself aggrieved by the Commission's deter-
mination to bring an action in an appropriate United States District Court.
[Whereupon, at 3:20 p.m., the subcommittee adjourned subject to
the call of the Chair.]