Royal Netherlands Steamship Co. v. Strachan Shipping Co.
| Decision Date | 05 August 1966 |
| Docket Number | No. 21622.,21622. |
| Citation | 362 F.2d 691 |
| Parties | ROYAL NETHERLANDS STEAMSHIP COMPANY, Appellant, v. STRACHAN SHIPPING COMPANY et al., Appellees, STRACHAN SHIPPING COMPANY, Appellant. v. ROYAL NETHERLANDS STEAMSHIP COMPANY, Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
John P. Forney, Jr., Houston, Tex., William M. Kimball, New York City, Burlingham, Underwood, Barron, Wright & White, New York City, Eastham, Watson, Dale & Forney, Houston, Tex., for appellants.
E. D. Vickery, Jr., Carl Bue, Houston, Tex., Royston, Rayzor & Cook, Gus A. Schill, Jr., Houston, Tex., of counsel, for appellees.
Before JONES and THORNBERRY, Circuit Judges, and SLOAN, District Judge.
B. A. Rawlinson, a longshoreman employed by the appellee, Strachan Shipping Company, was injured while participating in the loading of a vessel of the appellant, Royal Netherlands Steamship Company, at a dock in Houston, Texas. He was crushed between a load of pipe, which was being raised from the dock, and the vessel. Strachan's insurance carrier settled with Rawlinson on his Texas workmen's compensation claim. He then sued Royal Netherlands in a state court, claiming unseaworthiness of the vessel and negligence of its owner. Royal Netherlands removed the case to the Federal court, settled with Rawlinson, and filed a third-party complaint against Strachan seeking indemnity. The district court entered a summary judgment for Strachan on the ground that the discharge of its state compensation liability discharged it from all liability arising out of Rawlinson's injury. Rawlinson v. Koninklyke Nederlandsche Stoomboot Maalschappy, N.V., 197 F.Supp. 201. This court reversed, holding that under the Ryan doctrine,1 a state rule of workmen's compensation law cannot prevent a shipowner from enforcing a contractual right of indemnity against a stevedore. Koninklyke Nederlandsche Stoomboot Maalschappy, N.V., etc., v. Strachan Shipping Company, 5 Cir. 1962, 301 F.2d 741, reh. den. 304 F.2d 545.
The injuries of Rawlinson were sustained while he was engaged, with others, in loading a cargo of pipe on the SS Mentor, owned by Royal Netherlands. A length of pipe was being raised from the dock to the ship by two winches. It appeared to C. E. Hartley, one of Strachan's winchmen, that one end of the pipe might strike a shroud. He stopped his winch and signaled W. E. Hedigar, Strachan's other winchman, to stop his winch. There is a dispute as to whether Hedigar missed the signal and did not attempt to stop the winch, or the winch was defective and did not respond to the winchman's effort to stop it. The winch continued to operate causing the low end of the pipe to swing in against the ship. Rawlinson was caught between the pipe and the ship and the resulting injuries initiated this litigation. Rawlinson's action against Royal Netherlands, in which he asserted both negligence and unseaworthiness, was settled by the payment of $20,000 by Royal Netherlands. It reserved the right to seek indemnity from Strachan. As has been noted, its right to do so was established on the prior appeal.
At the conclusion of the trial the court submitted special interrogatories under Rule 49(a), Fed.Rules Civ.Proc. 28 U.S. C.A., at the request of Royal Netherlands and in the form requested by it. Objections to the interrogatories made by Strachan were overruled and interrogatories requested by Strachan were refused. The questions propounded and the answers returned are as follows:
After the jury had retired, a note from the jury was sent in, making this inquiry:
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