The concern over expanding admiralty and maritime jurisdiction into “uncharted waters” by retreating from a traditional, mechanically applied jurisdictional rule has led many courts to conclude that general agency agreements are not maritime contracts. By characterizing such agreements as providing for shore services which are preliminary to voyages rather than for services that relate to the management and navigation of vessels, courts have treated agency agreements as they would any other contract whose non-maritime nature is well accepted1. Courts adhering to this distinction believe that it is a mechanism to restrain Federal law from inappropriately and unnecessarily making inroads where local law is competent to govern transactions which may only be remotely related to the shipping industry2.

Peralta v. Smith & Johnson 3 falls in line with the established rule in its holding, but calls upon the Supreme Court to accept general agency agreements as cognizable in admiralty at its next opportunity. In Peralta a general agent for the Bangladesh Shipping Corp. (Bangladesh) entered an agreement with Smith & Johnson (S & J) whereby S & J was appointed as “Gulf agent” responsible for arranging services for all Bangladesh vessels calling at ports between Brownsville, Texas and Tampa, Florida. S & J’s President summarized his company’s obligations under the agreement as being “to handle [Bangladesh’s] vessels at [the Gulf] ports, to shift cargo, enter and clear vessels, supervise the loading of vessels and account for the disbursements and expenditures and to collect freights”4. A suit seeking an accounting was filed by Peralta in the District Court for the Southern District of New York claiming that S & J breached the agency agreement when it wrongfully retained freight money from Bangladesh’s vessels and money that had been advanced by Peralta to pay Bangladesh’s vessels’ suppliers and vendors. The District Court rejected S & J’s contention that it had been relieved of its contractual obligations5 and initially granted