ADMIRALTY-INJURY TO LONGSHOREMAN WORKING ASHORE BY UNSEAWORTHINESS OF THE VESSEL

Plaintiff, employed by an independent contractor to lade defendant's ship, was injured by a "pontoon" hatch cover which fell on his foot while he was working on the dock beside the ship. The court below found that defendant was not negligent, but that the ship was unseaworthy and that its unseaworthiness caused plaintiff's injury. Held, judgment for plaintiff affirmed. Breach of the warranty of seaworthiness is a tort arising out of a maritime status or relation and is therefore cognizable by maritime law whether occurring at sea or on land; a longshoreman employed by an independent contractor to lade a vessel has the status requisite to the creation of the obligation.

Strika v. Netherlands Ministry of Traffic, (2d Cir, 1950) 185 F. (2d) 555, 50 A.M.C. 1354.