Buch v. United States

Citation122 F. Supp. 25
PartiesBUCH v. UNITED STATES.
Decision Date09 June 1954
CourtU.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

Harry Eisenberg, New York City, (Jacob Rassner Emanuel Hirschberger, New York City, of counsel), for libelant.

J. Edward Lumbard, U. S. Atty., New York City, Lloyd, Decker & Williams, New York City, of counsel, Gray Williams, New York City, advocate, for respondent.

WEINFELD, District Judge.

Libelant, a seaman employed aboard the S. S. Earl A. Bloomquist, sustained serious and permanent injuries as a result of a fall into the hold of the barge Comptoir 4 from a Jacobs ladder rigged over the side of the Bloomquist to the barge which was flush against the side of the ship. The Bloomquist, moored off shore in the Port of Rotterdam, Holland, had been engaged in unloading a coal cargo into the Comptoir 4 and other barges through the use of floating cranes. This unloading operation prevented direct means of egress and ingress from the Bloomquist to shore, since the position of the receiving barges and operating cranes blocked off and made unavailable for use by crew members of the Bloomquist all of its accommodation ladders. To reach shore it was necessary to go from the Bloomquist onto a barge by a Jacobs ladder supplied by the barge, from which a launch would take the men ashore.

Libelant had been granted shore leave and he left the Bloomquist sometime between 5:45 and 6:00 p. m. by means of a Jacobs ladder which led from the port rail of the Bloomquist down to the Comptoir 4 — the only method then open to him to reach shore. At the time of the accident the hatches of the Comptoir were open to receive coal from the Bloomquist and were surrounded by steel hatch coamings twenty-one inches in height and approximately six inches wide. Between the hatch coaming and the outer side of the barge was a narrow area or catwalk, also of steel, approximately thirty inches in width. The Jacobs ladder from which libelant descended did not reach the narrow deck of the barge. Its bottom step was approximately three to four feet above it and approximately two feet above the hatch coaming.

Libelant, while trying to gain a firm foothold in stepping down from the last rung of the Jacobs ladder onto the deck of the barge or the coaming slipped and missed his footing and was plunged into the open hatch, a distance of twenty feet. The hatch coaming and the deck were both covered with wet coal and wet coal dust.

Libelant seeks to recover on both unseaworthiness and negligence. Respondent as owner of the Bloomquist was under an absolute and non-delegable duty to crew members to provide a seaworthy ship and safe and seaworthy appliances.1 It was required to afford libelant a safe means of ingress and egress from the vessel through its own equipment or that supplied by others upon whom it relied.2 The fact that the barges supplied the ladder when those of the Bloomquist were inaccessible and unavailable for use, did not relieve it of its absolute duty to provide a seaworthy vessel and appurtenant appliances and equipment.3

I find that the ladder supplied by the Comptoir 4, the only one available for libelant's use, was not reasonably adequate to provide a safe means of egress from the ship to the barge; it was of insufficient length and its bottom rung was three to four feet above the deck of the Comptoir.4 Under the prevailing conditions it was not reasonably fit for the use for which it was intended and was an inadequate appliance and not much different from a totally defective one. The failure of the Bloomquist to supply or cause to be supplied an adequate Jacobs ladder or other adequate appurtenance for leaving the ship rendered it unseaworthy.5

The respondent also failed in its duty to exercise reasonable care to provide reasonably safe means for its crew members to leave the vessel. It was dusk when the accident occurred. The Bloomquist and the barge had been and were being buffeted by a choppy sea and a strong wind. It had been raining hard. The hatch coaming and the deck of the barge were covered with wet coal dust and wet coal, making them slippery.

The insufficient length of the ladder and the wet and slippery condition of the restricted area of the coaming and catwalk made it difficult and dangerous for men descending the ladder to secure a firm foothold on either. This wet and slippery condition of the narrow deck and hatch coaming, the rise and fall of the vessel due to the choppy sea and strong wind, and the absence of any guards or other protective devices around the open hatch rendered the entire area of the barge unsafe to men who were required to jump or take a long step from the bottom rung of the inadequate ladder. And the owner appears to have taken no action to abate the conditions or to have exercised any care in the matter at all. The use of the inadequate ladder and the general conditions attendant upon its use continued for a sufficient period of time prior to the accident to have charged the respondent with knowledge.

The direct and proximate cause of libelant's fall in the coal barge while attempting to gain a foothold on the deck of the barge was the concurrent unseaworthy condition of the vessel and the negligence of the respondent. I further find that respondent failed to sustain its burden of proof that the libelant was guilty of contributory negligence. Libelant proceeded by the only means available for departure from the ship and under the attendant circumstances exercised reasonable care in descending the...

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9 cases
  • Dixon v. Grace Lines, Inc.
    • United States
    • California Court of Appeals
    • 17 Agosto 1972
    ...Co. v. Trahan, 322 F.2d 234 (5th Cir. 1963); Broussard v. United States, 1956 A.M.C. 882, 890--891 (E.D.Pa.1956); Buch v. United States, 122 F.Supp. 25, 26 (S.D.N.Y.1954), rev'd on other grounds 220 F.2d 165 (2nd Cir. 1955).) In Novick v. United States, 324 F.Supp. 1138 (E.D.Pa.1971), defen......
  • Quiles v. City of N.Y.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York
    • 23 Octubre 2013
    ...Thus, a vessel is “considered unseaworthy if it lacks a safe place of ingress and egress.” Id. at 26 (citing Buch v. United States, 122 F.Supp. 25, 26 (S.D.N.Y.1954)). Further, the ship owner is liable for injury to a member of the crew caused by an “insufficiently or defectively equipped” ......
  • Penedo Cia Naviera SA v. Maniatis
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (4th Circuit)
    • 5 Enero 1959
    ...There was no error in the inclusion in the judgment of an allowance for wages as well as for maintenance. See Buch v. United States, D.C.S.D.N.Y., 122 F.Supp. 25; Kurtz v. United States, D.C. S.D.Texas, 121 F.Supp. 856; Deitz v. United States, D.C.E.D.Pa., 1955 A.M.C. 1132; Castro v. Califo......
  • Olsen v. Isbrandtsen Company
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York
    • 20 Septiembre 1962
    ...S.S. American Harvester, 297 F.2d 9 (2d Cir.1961), cert. denied, 369 U.S. 865, 82 S.Ct. 1031, 8 L.Ed.2d 84 (1962). 2 Buch v. United States, 122 F.Supp. 25 (S.D.N.Y.1954), aff'd as to unseaworthiness and negligence and rev'd as to maintenance and cure, 220 F.2d 165 (2d Cir. 1955). See Vander......
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