In the case of New York Dock Company v. Steamship Poznan, 1926, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the New York Dock Company. The dispute arose when a steamship named "Poznan" was seized during World War I by U.S authorities under right of angary and used as a transport ship for American troops. After the war, it was returned to its original Polish owners who refused to pay docking fees incurred while it was being held by US authorities on grounds that they were not responsible for charges accrued during seizure period. The court however disagreed with this argument stating that even though ownership rights had been temporarily suspended due to necessity of war (right of angary), property rights remained intact which included responsibility for any debts or obligations related to said property including docking fees.

In the dissenting opinion for New York Dock Company v. Steamship Poznan, Justice Stone argued that the majority's decision to hold a pier owner liable for damages caused by a fire on a ship docked at its pier was inconsistent with maritime law principles. He contended that under these principles, liability should only be imposed if there is proof of negligence or contractual obligation - neither of which were present in this case. The mere fact that the fire occurred while the ship was docked at the defendant’s pier did not automatically make them responsible for it. Furthermore, he disagreed with imposing an absolute duty on wharfingers (pier owners) to extinguish fires on ships moored at their piers without any regard to whether they had actual knowledge of such fires and could have reasonably acted upon it.