The Cristobal Colon

• Jurisdiction: Bermuda
• Judgment Date: 18 October 1937
• Docket Number: Case No. 84
• Date: 18 October 1937
• Court: Supreme Court (Bermuda)

Bermuda, Supreme Court.

Case No. 84

The Cristobal Colon.

Jurisdiction — Immunity of Sovereign State — Merchant Vessels — Nationalization — Vessels outside Jurisdiction when Nationalized — Subsequent Seizure — Requisition — De facto Possession — Public User — Ship's Personnel — Vessels Engaged in Trade.

The Facts.—The steamship Cristobal Colon, a Spanish merchant vessel, was stranded on the rocks near the town of St. George in the Island of Bermuda some time between October 16 and November 25, 1936, after voyaging from Cardiff in the United Kingdom, which port she cleared on October 16 of that year.

The plaintiff company, the Companis [sic] Transatlantica, claimed the right to possession of the vessel. A writ of summons in rem was issued and served about January 6, 1937, (1) on the Cristobal Colon by affixing a copy to her foremast, (2) on the apparel of the vessel lying in the King's warehouse in the town of St. George by affixing a copy on the door of the warehouse, and (3) on the Receiver of Wrecks by delivering a copy to him personally and showing him the original at the time of service. The Government of the Republic of Spain intervened on the ground that by the operation of certain decrees they were entitled to the ship, and that the present proceedings, therefore, impleaded a foreign sovereign State recognized by His Majesty's Government which was unwilling to submit to the jurisdiction of the Court.

According to an affidavit of Señor Emilio Suarez Fiol, the Cristobal Colon belonged to the plaintiffs and they had possession, control and management of her both prior and subsequent to August 7, 1936. On that date, by a decree signed by Señor Manuel Azaña and Señor Bernardo Giner de los Rios, “the so-called Loyalist Government decreed that the State confiscated in the cause of public interest the Companis Transatlantica itself as well as all its capital stock, deposits, warehouses and whatever assets or effects it possessed”. The affidavit further stated that “It seems that, shortly after the 7th day of August 1936, the steamship Cristobal Colon was seized at the port of Santander in the name of the so-called Loyalist Government” and that “the said steamship was consequently under requisition of the so-called Loyalist Government at the time when she became stranded on the rocks near the town of St. George in the island of Bermuda”.

For the interveners an affidavit of Señor Antonio de la Cruz Marin stated (a) that he was the Counsellor of the Spanish Embassy in London, a Spanish lawyer and a Doctor of Law of the University of Madrid, (b) that the Cristobal Colon was subject to decrees of the Government of Spain dated respectively August 7, 1936, and May 10, 1937, and published in the Official Gazette of the said Government, (c) that the publication of the said decrees had the legal effect of making such decrees laws of the Republic of Spain and binding on all Spanish subjects, (d) that prints of the said Official Gazette containing the said decrees together with translations into English of the said decrees were produced and shown to him, (e) that the said decrees as published in the said Official Gazette were signed by Manuel Azaña, the President of the said Republic, and Bernardo Giner de los Rios, Minister of Communications Transport and Public Works, and the translations therefore were accurate, (f) that in...