311.5754 Janko/6
The Norwegian Ambassador ( Morgenstierne ) to the Secretary of State
Your Excellency: Acting under specific instructions from the Royal Norwegian Government, I have the honor to request Your Excellency’s good offices in order that, in accordance with the procedure established by the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in the cases of Ex Parte Muir, 254 U.S. 522, and Ex Parte Republic of Peru, 318 U.S. 578, (See, also, Ioannis P. Goulandris, 40 F. Supp. 924; Maliakos, 41 F. Supp. 697; Tassia, 41 F. Supp. 699), Your Excellency kindly, through the Attorney General of the United States,17 or other competent authority, make the appropriate suggestion to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York to the end that the suit and the process to which the Norwegian motor-tank vessel Norsktank is presently subjected be vacated.
The motor-tank vessel Norsktank, which at the time of its entry of American jurisdiction and uninterruptedly thereafter has been under the Norwegian flag and in the possession of the Kingdom of Norway and manned by a Norwegian crew employed by the Kingdom of Norway, was seized on January 13, 1944, in a possessory action in rem in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York in a suit entitled: Pankos Operating Company, S.A.,—against—Motor-tank Vessel “Janko” (otherwise called “Norsktank”), her engines, boilers, etc.,—and against—O. Nygaard or John Doe (said name being fictitious) and any and all other person or persons In possession of said vessel or lawfully intervening for any legal interest in said vessel, etc.
The Kingdom of Norway does not desire the continuation of the suit at present pending, but that the suit be dismissed on the ground that the vessel is in the possession of the Kingdom of Norway and is being operated by a friendly sovereign power in the service and interest of the Kingdom of Norway and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, to which Government the Norsktank is under charter.
The Norsktank has been in the continuous possession of the Kingdom of Norway for over two years, since November 20, 1941, on which date she was put at the disposition of the Kingdom of Norway by the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and has been employed during that period under time charter to a nominee of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the transportation of oil to the United Kingdom. On occasion she has delivered oil at sea to escort [Page 1200] vessels protecting Allied convoys. The Norsktank is armed with a large gun forward and another gun aft and six smaller anti-aircraft guns amidships, which guns are served by members of the Royal Norwegian Navy.
The Norsktank arrived at New York in September, 1943, and has remained there making repairs until January, 1944. The seizure by Pankos Operating Company, S.A., was made only a few days before the date when the ship would be ready to sail in ordinary course.
Your Excellency will, I am confident, agree that it is singularly undesirable that the United States of America should through its Courts permit a Panamanian corporation to interfere with the possession of its Ally, the Kingdom of Norway, or with the operation of its Ally, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, to whom the Kingdom of Norway has time chartered this vessel as a part of the united war effort. To do so would not only violate long-established principles of comity but would set a precedent capable of leading to very serious injury to the efficient maintenance of the war’s lifelines of supply.
As soon as the Norsktank can be released from the attachment which has been obtained against her, she will be employed in the transportation of oil to the United Kingdom, a service which is vital to the war effort of the United States and that of the United Nations.
I wish further to point out to Your Excellency that, under the circumstances of this case, the ship cannot be removed until an appropriate Suggestion is made to the Court. I trust, therefore, that Your Excellency will act with all dispatch in requesting prompt action on the part of the Attorney General.
The Kingdom of Norway accordingly prays that Your Excellency’s department will request the Attorney General that the appropriate United States Attorney be instructed to file a Suggestion of sovereign immunity in which the State Department will state that it recognizes the contents of this appeal and desires the suit referred to to be dismissed.
Accept [etc.]
- Francis Biddle.↩