Calmar Steamship Corp. v. W. J. Jones & Son, Inc.

163 F. Supp. 463, 1958 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3993
CourtDistrict Court, D. Oregon
DecidedJune 13, 1958
DocketCiv. No. 8464
StatusPublished

This text of 163 F. Supp. 463 (Calmar Steamship Corp. v. W. J. Jones & Son, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Calmar Steamship Corp. v. W. J. Jones & Son, Inc., 163 F. Supp. 463, 1958 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3993 (D. Or. 1958).

Opinion

EAST, District Judge.

It is apparent from the evidence and agreed facts that:

Libelant Calmar Steamship Corporation is a Delaware corporation (Calmar) engaged in intercoastal steamship business as a common carrier of lumber eastbound and was, at all times pertinent to this matter, the bareboat charterer and operator of the SS Alamar.

Libelants Globe and Rutgers Fire Insurance Company; American Home Assurance Company; The Netherlands Insurance Company Est. 1845; New Hampshire Fire Insurance Company; and Birmingham Fire Insurance Company of Pennsylvania; are each insurance companies duly organized and existing under the laws of their respective States, of incorporation and were P & I underwriters of the vessel Alamar during the year 1954, each of said underwriters bearing a 20% interest in the insurance. This underwriting was subject to the usual P & I conditions, with a $1,000 deductible in respect to claims for personal injuries;

Respondent W. J. Jones & Son, Inc. is an Oregon corporation (Jones) engaged in the stevedoring business within the State of Oregon;

Third-party respondent Pittston Stevedoring Corporation is a New York corporation (Pittston) engaged in the stevedoring business in the New York Harbor, and was interpleaded under the 56th Admiralty Rule by Jones;

Pursuant to the terms and provisions of a written contract with Calmar (libelants’ exhibit 35), Jones, as stevedore, loaded a cargo of lumber aboard the vessel Alamar at Newport, Oregon, from approximately June 2, 1954, to and including June 6, 1954;

Said written contract between Calmar and Jones contained or provided, inter alia:

“The Above Rates Will Include the Following Services of the Contractor :
“a. The supplying of all necessary stevedoring labor, including winchmen, hatch tenders, and foremen, and all stevedoring direction and supervision requisite or necessary for the proper and efficient conduct and control of the work, as well as any equipment and labor needed in switching cars, etc.”

The vessel Alamar completed her voyage to New York Harbor via the Panama Canal and Pittston, as stevedore, unloaded said cargo of lumber from the vessel at the India Street Dock, Brooklyn, New York, all pursuant to a written stevedoring contract with Calmar (libel-ants’ exhibit 36), which contract contained, inter alia, an identical provision as aforesaid in the Jones contract;

During the course of the unloading of the vessel and the discharge of its cargo at Brooklyn as aforesaid, Edward Oprosko, a longshoreman employed by Pittston, was injured by the falling or collapsing of a tier in one of the wings of the No. 2 lower hold. Thereafter, the said Oprosko filed an action against Calmar in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York to recover $350,000 damages on account of his in[465]*465juries aforesaid (summons and complaint in said action libelants’ exhibit 52).

On October 8, 1954, Calmar gave notice to Jones to defend the said suit brought by Oprosko against Calmar; Jones acknowledged receipt of said notice and forwarded it to Jones’ insurance underwriter, The National Automobile and Casualty Company of Los Angeles; however, neither Jones nor said underwriter took any action whatsoever in response to said notice, and on December 15, 1954, Calmar gave due notice to Jones and said underwriter of Oprosko’s last settlement offer. However, neither Jones nor the underwriter took any action in response thereto.

On February 8, 1955, Calmar made an out-of-Court settlement with Oprosko for the sum of $117,500, in full settlement and release of all claims of Oprosko arising out of the incident of his injuries aforesaid.

In addition to the amount paid Oprosko in said settlement, Calmar incurred reasonable attorney’s fees and expenses in the sum of $3,465.76, all in connection with the defense and settlement of Oprosko’s claims and suit aforesaid; that on or about March 9, 1955, Calmar was reimbursed by its P & I underwriters the amounts of said settlement and attorney’s fees and expenses, less the sum of $1,000 deductible.

In this action Calmar claims that Jones breached and negligently performed its contractual obligations in loading the vessel in that Jones failed to load and stow the wing tiers in No. 2 lower hold in a secure, proper and safe manner, and failed to place sufficient or any binders or stickers or laths or cross pieces in the wing tiers of lumber on the starboard side in No. 2 lower hold, and in that Jones stowed some of the boards loosely and on edge, i. e., with the boards resting on the narrow 2-inch dimension instead of the broad dimension, in the wing tiers on the starboard side of No. 2 lower hold, with the result that the 163 F.Supp. — 30 wing tiers of lumber were stowed insecurely and loosely, thereby creating a hazard that they might topple over or collapse or fall down. Wherefore, libel-ants claim they are entitled to recover the sum of $120,965.76, together with legal interest thereon from February 8, 1955, until paid, from Jones by way of indemnity and damages for the breach of its stevedoring contract aforesaid.

Jones denies all of the claims and contentions of Calmar and Pittston and claims that:

If the wing tiers were insecure, loose and likely to topple or fall, said condition was due wholly or in part to heavy weather encountered by the vessel in its voyage to New York and to Calmar’s negligence in permitting a heavy list to port while harboring in Brooklyn, New York.

It was immediately and readily apparent on commencing to unload the wing tiers of lumber in the No. 2 lower hold of the SS Alamar at the India Street Dock in Brooklyn on July 6, 1954, that these tiers were in a shaky and unsafe and dangerous condition and likely to topple over and injure longshoremen employed by Pittston who were working there. Calmar was apprised and had full knowledge of this open and notorious and unsafe condition, but that nevertheless Calmar directed the discharging longshoremen to proceed with their work instead of remedying this condition by means readily available, which were immediately resorted to after the accident to Oprosko, namely, by pulling down the shaky tiers with a cargo hook.

The injuries to Oprosko and any liability of Calmar to Oprosko were due to the sole negligence of Calmar or the joint and concurring negligence of Calmar and Pittston in failing to keep the SS Alamar seaworthy where the unsafe conditions were open and notorious and known to Calmar and to Pittston and where these unsafe conditions were allowed to continue and the discharging longshoremen were directed to work in disregard thereof.

[466]*466Jones further claims and contends against Pittston that:

During the discharging from the No. 2 lower hold of the SS Alamar at Brooklyn, Pittston improperly and negligently worked down into the flooring before attempting to remove the lumber in the wing tiers which resulted in the wing tiers having no firm foundation on which to rest and thus made them subject to being toppled under the conditions then and there existing.

It was immediately and readily apparent to Pittston before commencing to unload the wing tiers to the No. 2 lower hatch of the SS Alamar that these tiers were in a shaky and unsafe condition and likely to fall and injure the discharging longshoremen.

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163 F. Supp. 463, 1958 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3993, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/calmar-steamship-corp-v-w-j-jones-son-inc-ord-1958.