## Facts

- The *Victoria*, an Argentine-flag motor tanker owned by an Argentine company, sailed from Buenos Aires to Edgewater, New Jersey under Argentine articles with a crew including Argentine, Spanish, and Portuguese seamen.
- In April 1942, about 360 miles from New York, the ship was torpedoed twice.
- After the second torpedo, the master ordered abandonment; two lifeboats were launched and later became separated.
- U.S. naval forces located the lifeboats; some crew were taken aboard a U.S. naval vessel.
- The abandoned *Victoria* was later reboarded and brought to New York under her own power with naval escort; some libellants participated in efforts that helped bring the vessel safely to port.
- Crew members filed consolidated admiralty libels seeking (1) a salvage award and (2) wages, arguing that abandonment ended their employment obligations so their later assistance was voluntary salvage rather than performance of crew duties.
- At trial, evidence of Argentine law came primarily from a single expert who relied mainly on Argentine commercial code provisions and asserted that contract termination depended on whether the vessel was in fact rendered incapable of navigation.

## Issues

1. Whether the crew’s status after abandonment—specifically, whether they were released from contractual duties and could claim salvage—must be determined under Argentine law (law of the flag) rather than by applying general maritime salvage doctrine reflected in U.S. decisions.
2. Whether wage entitlements (and any related penalties or forfeitures) depend on Argentine law governing termination of the seamen’s contract in the event of disaster and abandonment.
3. Whether the evidentiary record on Argentine law was sufficient to support the district court’s salvage and wage rulings.

## Decision

- The Second Circuit reversed the judgment awarding salvage and allowing wage recovery and remanded for further proceedings.
- The court held that determining whether crew members were “released from any obligation to exert themselves for the benefit of the vessel” concerns the vessel’s internal relations with its crew and is governed by Argentine law as the law of the flag.
- The court held the wage claims likewise required determination and application of Argentine law.
- The court concluded the proof of Argentine law was inadequate; the district court had not made a sufficiently supported, formal determination of the controlling foreign-law rules.
- On remand, the district court was directed to take additional evidence on Argentine law, make specific findings, and then reassess salvage entitlement and the proper wage award (including any need for further proceedings to compute wages).

## Legal Principles

- In maritime cases, even where salvage is generally associated with international maritime norms, questions about a crew’s contractual obligations and release from duty are part of the ship’s “internal economy” and are governed by the law of the flag.
- Foreign law is treated as a matter to be proved; a court is not required to accept an expert’s interpretation of foreign law and must evaluate the adequacy and support for that testimony.
- A judgment granting salvage or wages that depends on foreign law cannot stand where the record and findings do not adequately establish the foreign law governing the crew’s contractual status and resulting rights.

## Conclusion

The Second Circuit required application of Argentine law to decide whether abandonment ended the crew’s contractual duties and thereby permitted salvage claims and affected wages, and it reversed and remanded because the record did not adequately prove or support findings on the controlling foreign law.


Usatorre v. The Victoria, 172 F.2d 434 (2d Cir. 1949)