Magistrate Judge Pollak
http://nycourts.law.com/CourtDocumentViewer.asp?view=Document&docID=118380
PLAINTIFF longshoreman worked on the Rotterdam Express while it was docked on Staten Island. His hand was severely hurt in a 2006 fall when he slipped on a grease spot while trying to secure one of the cargo hold hatch covers so containers could be loaded onto the ship. Plaintiff has since returned to work and is able to fulfill his holdman duties. The court granted the Rotterdam Express and Hapag-Lloyd Aktiengesellschaft, the ship’s owner or charterer, summary dismissal of his 2008 suit charging that his injury arose from their negligent failure to inspect the ship. Plaintiff’s claims were governed by the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act. Discussing 33 USC §905(b) and a vessel owner’s duties under the act—as set out by the U.S. Supreme Court in Scindia Steam Nav. Co. Ltd. v. De Los Santos—the court held that plaintiff made no showing the grease spot existed before defendants’ turnover of the vessel for stevedoring. Thus, he failed to prove defendants had enough time to discover the defect. As to defendants’ duty to intervene, there was no evidence the crew knew of a hazardous condition once stevedoring operations had begun.
