The Santiago
The Santiago
Opinion of the Court
The libelant seeks to recover damages for personal injuries received while employed as a stevedore upon the barge Santiago. The evidence establishes that the watchman of the ship was charged with the duty of lighting the hold, or at least with the duty of supplying candles or lights to the stevedores to enable them to safely reach the place in which they were to work. The respondent does not controvert this fact. His failure to furnish light is ther^ -re negligence attributable to the ship, for which the libelant, a longshoreman in the employ of the head stevedore, is entitled to recover against the vessel. The Slingsby, 120 Fed. 748, 57 C. C. A. 52. The evidence upon the subject of tihe presence of the watchman is clear enough, and, in the absence of a showing that he was in the employ pro hac vice of an independent contractor, it may be presumed that the watchman continued in the employ of the ship. Accordingly no spec:.! contract existed between the vessel and the head stevedore governing the manner in which the cargo should be unloaded, or the liability and responsibility arising from failure to discharge a duty owing to the stevedores employed. In the circumstances of this case, it was the undoubted duty of the vessel to have the hatches lighted to protect the libelant, a longshoreman, in the place in which he was to work, or at least to supply him with candles or lights for his use in descending to the interior of the ship. The case is quite distinguishable from The Auchenarden (D. C.) 100 Fed. 895, and The Saratoga, 94 Fed. 221, 36 C. C. A. 208, cited by respondent. In the case first cited the contractor, to whom the ship was turned over for unloading, was fully informed as to the condition of a hatchway, and his duty to warn his individual stevedores of the danger of such hatchway. Under such circumstances, it was undoubtedly the duty of the master to protect his employés from any danger owing to a
So ordered, with costs.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- THE SANTIAGO
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- 1. Shipping — Longshokemen—Injuries—Safe Place to Wokk. Where the watchman of a ship was charged with the duty of lighting the hold or furnishing lights to the stevedores to enable them to safely reach the hold in which they were working, and there is no evidence that the watchman, in the performance of such duty, was in the employ of an independent contractor, it will be presumed that the watchman continued in the employ of the ship, which was chargeable with his negligence in failing to light the hold for the benefit of a longshoreman employed by the head stevedore; such negligence being proximate cause of his injuries.