Drlik v. Imperial Oil Limited

• Decision Date: 17 January 1955
• Docket Number: No. 3548.,3548.
• Citation: 141 F. Supp. 388
• Parties: Frank DRLIK, Libellant, v. IMPERIAL OIL LIMITED, Respondent (American Ship Building Company, Inc., Impleaded Respondent.)
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Ohio

141 F. Supp. 388

Frank DRLIK, Libellant, v. IMPERIAL OIL LIMITED, Respondent (American Ship Building Company, Inc., Impleaded Respondent.)

No. 3548.

United States District Court N. D. Ohio.

January 17, 1955.

J. Harold Traverse, Cleveland, Ohio, and Edward Hagerty, of Miller, Hagerty & Shoemaker, Toledo, Ohio, for libellant.

Lucian Y. Ray and H. W. D. Kilgour, of McCreary, Hinslea & Ray, Cleveland, Ohio, for respondent.

McAlister Marshall and Robert B. Preston, Jr., of Arter, Hadden, Wykoff & VanDuzer, Cleveland, Ohio, for impleaded respondent.

CONNELL, District Judge.

We will first thank all counsel for their courtesy, their preparation and zeal, fairness and expedition throughout.

As to the injury sustained by Frank Drlik, Libellant, on August 8, 1952, and the question of responsibility or liability therefor the Court finds as follows:

That at the time and place in question, in preparing for undocking respondent's vessel, Imperial Leduc, after the completion of some months of repairs thereon, the libellant Drlik along with two other members of a dock gang of three, of which he was in charge, sustained severe injuries as the result of the tightening of a wire rope or cable of which he then had hold.

That the tightening of same was caused by the turning on of a winch engine on the deck of such vessel by its operator Pether, respondent's employee, who applied the power which tightened said wire rope at a time when he, Pether, could not see the point at which such force was to be applied, and when respondent had no employee as watchman at its rail to apprise Pether of the safety or danger of such move.

The Court finds that at the time and place in question there were four or five lines to shore attached to the winch engines of such vessel. That Drlik and two other dockmen were assigned to handle the line attached to winch engine number 5 operated by Pether. That other dock crews were to handle other lines, all under the supervision of docking foreman Cosmo, an employee of the American Ship Building Company, the impleaded respondent. That in order to get the vessel out of the dry dock, other activities had first been accomplished, water had been let in, the ship was afloat, and the immediate object sought to be accomplished was the movement of the ship a short distance aft into the river so that a tug could then assist it without being endangered by its proximity to any part of such dock. That such first movement of the ship was to be attained by moving cables from spiles to which they were already attached to spiles closer to the river, whereupon the drawing taut of such cables would accomplish such result. That such ship was twelve feet from each side of such dry dock and that such movement was required to be so made as to prevent contact with same and so as to keep it in a safe position through the synchronized application of force through such four or five wire ropes and the withdrawal of such force therefrom.

The Court finds that Drlik and his two companions, working some eight or ten feet from the edge of such dock, had moved the cable from one bollard or button to another towards the aft end of the ship; that the deck of the ship was some fifteen feet higher than the dock; that Drlik worked to the left of his companions and between them and the ship; that such three men moved approximately 100 or 120 feet in the direction of the river while moving such cable; that his companions handled the "eye" end of the cable which was to be placed over the spile while Drlik handled the slack part of the cable between his companions and the ship.

That during this movement along the dock, this movement of 100 or 120 feet, the slack of the cable hanging over the edge of the dock became caught several times on the ends of the railroad ties or the corners of the ends of such ties extending over the edge of such dock; that Drlik reached down on each occasion to extricate the cable from such tie; that just as his companions dropped the "eye" over the spile and while Drlik was in a stooped position with both hands on such cable and just after such last extrication of the cable, the cable became taut with great force and threw Drlik around, above, and down to such railroad tracks resulting in the injuries of which he complains.

The Court finds that throughout this earlier undocking activity Drlik had worked on the port side of such ship during the process of letting water into the dry dock, closing the gate, opening its valves, etc. That before water was let in, the boat crew had tightened the ship's lines; that the process took one and a half hours during which time no dock man was on such ship. That there were some 31 members of the crew including some of its officers aboard. That there was no watchman assigned by the ship at the rail at the time of the happening here in question. That after the gate was tied up, Drlik's orders from his superior were, along with two companions, to "go on the middle line, which then was tight".

The Court finds that these three men moved such cable off its original spile in accordance with a signal or indication first given by a blonde person at the ship's rail who has not been specifically identified; that the tightening of the cable set the ship in some motion; that its winch operator, Pether, had gone from the winch engine on the starboard side of the ship to its port side where Drlik and his companions were working and had done so four or five times and had made his own observations visually for the purpose of determining and that he did so determine when to apply and when to release the force and tension on such cable. That he went a considerable distance these four or five times from the rail at a point fifteen feet above the dock to his winch engine on the opposite side of the ship.

The Court further finds that the final application of force through such cable while Drlik held it and which resulted in Drlik's injuries was made by winch operator Pether without any signal from the dock so to do or from Pether to the dock that he so intended, and solely on Pether's observation as made the last time he was at the rail before returning to the winch engine for the application of power which resulted in Drlik's injury.

The Court further finds that it has been the invariable practice of respondent to post watchmen at its rail before operating winch engines and while operating winch engines whenever its own crew has in the past handled the shore end of the cable.

The Court further finds that the failure of the officers of the ship to post a watchman at the rail or to give warning to the dock crew in any form was the proximate and direct cause of libellant's injuries and but for which this never would have happened. That its ship's officers had a clear duty to post such watchmen at such rail for such purpose; that the winch operator had a clear duty not to operate its winch without a watchman posted at such rail; that such failure on the part of respondent constitutes unseaworthiness of the vessel and negligence and created for libellant an unsafe place in which to work.

The Court further finds that during the movement of the cable some 100 or 120 feet aft and while Pether had had the dock gang under some observation while he had been several times at the rail, the resiliency or slack in the cable had caused it on at least two occasions to foul and catch upon the ends of the railroad ties, so that Drlik's attention was necessarily engaged in its extrication, which required his constant visual attention to the cable itself, and which distracted from any opportunity on his part to watch the rail of the ship whose deck was fifteen feet above the dock on which he worked. That while Pether claims that all was well with the cable and with the dock gang when he, Pether, last left the rail to return to the winch engine, the Court nevertheless finds that the application of force through the cable was very close to the dropping of the "eye" in point of time over the spile, and the Court therefore finds that Pether's application of force through the cable, caused by turning on the winch engine, was not made as the result of any observation of Pether that the "eye" of the cable was safely and successfully over the spile and that the tightening of the cable could be done in safety. The Court finds that Pether's application of such force under such conditions deprived Drlik of a safe place in which to work; and that the posting of a watchman would have given the ship and its...