Splosna-Plovba v. Garcia
| Citation | 1968 AMC 1511,390 F.2d 41 |
| Decision Date | 06 February 1968 |
| Docket Number | No. 21525.,21525. |
| Parties | SPLOSNA-PLOVBA, a Corporation, Appellant, v. Refugio GARCIA, Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Graydon S. Staring (argued), of Lillick, McHose, Wheat, Adams & Charles, Robert G. Partridge, Jr., of Partridge, O'Connell, Partridge & Fall, San Francisco, Cal., for appellant.
Hugh B. Miller (argued), of Jarvis, Miller & Stender, San Francisco, Cal., for appellee.
Before POPE, DUNIWAY and CARTER, Circuit Judges.
The appellee Garcia commenced this action by filing a libel against Splosna-Plovba for damages resulting from an injury incurred while he was working as a longshoreman aboard the latter's vessel the SS GUNDULIC. After trial, the court made findings of fact and conclusions of law holding the appellant corporation liable for damages and a final decree to that effect was entered.
Garcia was injured while he was working in the hold of the ship helping to unload lumber. The lumber was stowed in bundles held together with metal strips. The length of the bundles varied from six to eighteen feet and the boards within the bundles varied in length. The bundles were approximately three feet high and three feet wide. Some of the lumber was stowed fore-and-aft and some was stowed athwartship. Because of these circumstances there were holes in the stow between the various bundles.
When he was injured Garcia was working with a group of four men in moving bundles from under the deck where they were stowed. These bundles were taken out by what is referred to as the two-sling method, that is to say, wire slings were placed about each end of the bundle and the operator of the winch on the deck of the ship would then drag the bundle toward the hatch and then lift the bundles upwards through the hatch for delivery on the deck. In using this method of unloading it was necessary for Garcia to hold one of the slings until the winch had started to lift the bundle. This was to hold the sling in place until the hoisting line began to take the load up, otherwise the hook by which it was fastened might come out. After the winch driver tightened up the bight of the line and the signal to start was given to him, Garcia and his companions were required to move quickly away from the load. In doing this at the time in question Garcia stepped into one of the holes in the lumber stow. Because the bundle was supported by a double sling, it could swing. It did so, and one end of the bundle struck Garcia's foot where it was caught in the hole, and Garcia received the fracture about which he complains.
The trial court held that the condition of the cargo stowage and the method of work which the longshoremen were required to employ in removing this cargo created an unseaworthy condition which was the proximate cause of Garcia's injuries. The key finding of the trial court was as follows: "Good practice in unloading a bundle of lumber required the bundle to be dragged from the wings to the square of the hatch by using a winch and sling to raise one end of the bundle, drag it in, set it there, resling it with two slings, and raise it vertically from the square of the hatch. Here, there was no place in the square of the hatch for the longshoremen to set the bundles for reslinging and raising. Thus, they were required to sling the bundles at each end in the wings and the winch driver had to swing them horizontally from the wings to the square of the hatch and raise them vertically. This was a dangerous method of discharging bundles of lumber because the winch driver had little or no control over the swinging bundles while he had substantial control over a bundle being dragged.
This condition of stowage required the libelant to hold the sling tight onto the hook while the line and sling were being taken up by the winch driver, and then to hurriedly get out of the way of the swinging bundle. In trying to get out of the way, libelant stepped into one of the holes and was struck on the ankle by a swinging bundle sustaining the injuries found...
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Tran v. Captain Glyn, Inc.
...64 S.Ct. 455, 88 L.Ed. 561 (1944). The acts or omissions of longshoremen can constitute unseaworthiness. See, e.g., Splosna-Plovba v. Garcia, 390 F.2d 41, 43 (9th Cir.1968). In Splosna-Plovba, the improper handling of cargo constituted unseaworthiness. Id. at 43. Crew loaded logs using two ......
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Williams v. Shipping Corporation of India, Ltd., Civ. A. No. 2874.
...consideration. Negligence of a stevedoring contractor in its methods of unloading can render a ship unseaworthy. See Splosna-Plovba v. Garcia, 390 F.2d 41 (9th Cir.); Ryan v. Pacific Coast Shipping Co., 448 F.2d 525, 526 (9th Cir.); Robinson v. Showa Kaiun K. K., 451 F. 2d 688 (5th Cir.). H......
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