Bell v. Seatrain Lines, Inc.

40 Cal. App. 3d 16, 115 Cal. Rptr. 76, 39 Cal. Comp. Cases 977, 1974 Cal. App. LEXIS 845
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 25, 1974
DocketCiv. No. 41634
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 40 Cal. App. 3d 16 (Bell v. Seatrain Lines, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bell v. Seatrain Lines, Inc., 40 Cal. App. 3d 16, 115 Cal. Rptr. 76, 39 Cal. Comp. Cases 977, 1974 Cal. App. LEXIS 845 (Cal. Ct. App. 1974).

Opinion

Opinion

KAUS, P. J.

Maritime personal injury case. Plaintiff Garland Bell brought an action based on theories of negligence under the Jones Act (46 U.S.C. § 688; 45 U.S.C. § 51) and unseaworthiness under general maritime law, against defendant Seatrain Lines, Incorporated. The trial [19]*19court directed a verdict in favor of defendant on the Jones Act count;1 the jury brought in a verdict in favor of defendant on the unseaworthiness theory. Plaintiff appeals from the judgment entered on the verdict.

Facts

Plaintiff, in January 1968, was an assistant engineer on the S.S. Sea-train Savannah, a cargo ship headed for the Orient. On January 29, 1968, the ship anchored about four miles off Qui Nhon, Vietnam, awaiting a berth at the dock so that it could unload its cargo. Several other ships were anchored offshore.

An agreement between defendant and plaintiff’s union provided that off-duty personnel were entitled to shore leave. The agreement also provided that when the vessel arrived “at a safe harbor,” defendant “shall furnish” daily roundtrip launch service “when weather permits and when regular service is available.”

The Tet offensive was going on at the time and Qui Nhon was generally under attack by the Viet Cong. There was no regular launch service available. All of the launches used to bring crewmen to shore from ships anchored off Qui Nhon were operated by the Military Sea Transport Service (MSTS), under the control of the Navy.2 The ship’s personnel never knew who would be operating the launches, whether Navy personnel, Koreans or Vietnamese working for the Navy. They never even knew ahead of time whether there would be launch service. When the launches arrived, sometimes MSTS would have notified the ship a few hours in advance, but sometimes a launch would appear without any advance notice.

The first mate, in testimony, assumed that the ship’s captain would try to get launch service by contacting MSTS. Plaintiff testified that to get launch service, the mate on watch normally calls for a launch to take crew members ashore. Plaintiff did not pay anything for the launch service in Qui Nhon harbor; he had never paid for launch service. There was no evidence who paid for the launch service at Qui Nhon.

The first mate testified that when the Navy sent out a launch, he assumed it was safe and that the Navy would provide personnel on the [20]*20launch who would keep the seamen under proper control. There was evidence from the first mate and the third mate that once the crew members left the vessel and boarded the launch to go ashore, they were on “their own time” and could go “anywhere they like[d].” No officer was assigned to go ashore and supervise their conduct since it was “not customary in the industry” for this to be done. Once the men left the vessel and boarded the launch, the ship’s officers had no control over their conduct or activities. It was customary for men on shore leave in Qui Nhon to drink in the bars or in the seamen’s club. Some of the men would get drunk and sometimes would get into fights.

The first night plaintiff’s ship was in Qui Nhon harbor, no shore leave was allowed by military authorities because the town was under attack, and there was no launch service available. The incident that led to plaintiff’s injuries occurred the second night, January 31, 1968.

Late that afternoon, a launch pulled up to the S.S. Seatrain Savannah to pick up seamen who wanted to go ashore. Before leaving the ship, the men signed a warning notice furnished by the captain. The document stated that MSTS had informed the captain that liberty launches were being sent out, but that the town was still under attack. Crewmen were advised not to go ashore and warned that they did so at their own risk; however the choice was theirs.

The launch was operated by a Korean crew. Among the S.S. Seatrain Savannah seamen who took the launch were David Velandra, Wayne Vore, Robert Corey, Ernest Shreck,3 and plaintiff.

Plaintiff was the only officer who had gone ashore. He had not been given any orders to supervise or control the crew members on the launch. Velandra was a baker on the ship; he was only casually acquainted with plaintiff. On the trip from the ship to the dock there were no incidents of any kind. While ashore plaintiff and other crew members spent several hours visiting bars, drinking beer and whiskey. Eventually the Military Police or some Vietnamese or Koreans told them that the Viet Cong were moving into the area and ordered them to return to the dock. Some of the men stopped en route to the dock to buy bottles of liquor which they consumed in the launch on the way back to the ship. Plaintiff, too, did some drinking in the launch.

When the men arrived at the dock there was only one launch there, operated by a Korean. There was no other evidence at trial to further [21]*21identify the launch owner or operator. (See fn. 2, supra.) Plaintiff did not know whether the launch operator could speak English.

The launch had crew members from all the ships in the harbor, including the S.S. Margaret Brown, about 20 to 28 men in all. All the men on board the launch were drinking and talking.

When the launch stopped by the S.S. Margaret Brown to let crew members of that ship climb aboard by means of the Jacob’s ladder, a dispute arose between plaintiff and Velandra, concerning a young seaman who appeared to be injured. Plaintiff stated that the young man should be left in the launch to be taken ashore for medical treatment; Velandra was helping to have the man hauled on board with a line.

The details of the incident that followed are disputed. The versions are as follows:

Plaintiff testified that he was viciously assaulted with fists and feet by Velandra and several unidentified men. Velandra testified that plaintiff, who was drunk, accidentally fell. Vore testified that Velandra punched plaintiff eight or nine times. Corey testified that Velandra slapped or chopped plaintiff once and other seamen kicked him. Vore and Corey admitted signing statements after the incident in which they said plaintiff had fallen.

When the launch returned to the S.S. Seatrain Savannah, plaintiff was given medical treatment by the captain and chief mate. Qui Nhon was under attack that night and there were no launches available to transport plaintiff ashore for medical treatment. The next day he was sent ashore for treatment on a special MSTS launch. About two weeks later, the Coast Guard conducted an investigation concerning plaintiff’s injuries and the captain was instructed to take plaintiff to Okinawa and have him signed off as a “medical” for repatriation to the United States. This was done.

Discussion

Directed Verdict on Jones Act Count

Plaintiff’s argument that the Jones Act count should have been submitted to the jury does not rest on a theory that defendant was liable for Velandra’s assault under the doctrine of respondeat superior or on a submission that any of defendant’s officers, agents, or employees were negligent in hiring Velandra as a person of known dangerous propensities.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
40 Cal. App. 3d 16, 115 Cal. Rptr. 76, 39 Cal. Comp. Cases 977, 1974 Cal. App. LEXIS 845, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bell-v-seatrain-lines-inc-calctapp-1974.