What follows is an opinion from a United States Court of Appeals.
Intervenors who participated as parties at the courts of appeals should be counted as either appellants or respondents when it can be determined whose position they supported. For example, if there were two plaintiffs who lost in district court, appealed, and were joined by four intervenors who also asked the court of appeals to reverse the district court, the number of appellants should be coded as six.
In some cases there is some confusion over who should be listed as the appellant and who as the respondent. This confusion is primarily the result of the presence of multiple docket numbers consolidated into a single appeal that is disposed of by a single opinion. Most frequently, this occurs when there are cross appeals and/or when one litigant sued (or was sued by) multiple litigants that were originally filed in district court as separate actions. The coding rule followed in such cases should be to go strictly by the designation provided in the title of the case. The first person listed in the title as the appellant should be coded as the appellant even if they subsequently appeared in a second docket number as the respondent and regardless of who was characterized as the appellant in the opinion.
To clarify the coding conventions, consider the following hypothetical case in which the US Justice Department sues a labor union to strike down a racially discriminatory seniority system and the corporation (siding with the position of its union) simultaneously sues the government to get an injunction to block enforcement of the relevant civil rights law. From a district court decision that consolidated the two suits and declared the seniority system illegal but refused to impose financial penalties on the union, the corporation appeals and the government and union file cross appeals from the decision in the suit brought by the government. Assume the case was listed in the Federal Reporter as follows:
United States of America,
Plaintiff, Appellant
v
International Brotherhood of Widget Workers,AFL-CIO
Defendant, Appellee.
International Brotherhood of Widget Workers,AFL-CIO
Defendants, Cross-appellants
v
United States of America.
Widgets, Inc. & Susan Kuersten Sheehan, President & Chairman
of the Board
Plaintiff, Appellants,
v
United States of America,
Defendant, Appellee.
This case should be coded as follows:Appellant = United States, Respondents = International Brotherhood of Widget Workers Widgets, Inc., Total number of appellants = 1, Number of appellants that fall into the category "the federal government, its agencies, and officials" = 1, Total number of respondents = 3, Number of respondents that fall into the category "private business and its executives" = 2, Number of respondents that fall into the category "groups and associations" = 1.
Note that if an individual is listed by name, but their appearance in the case is as a government official, then they should be counted as a government rather than as a private person. For example, in the case "Billy Jones & Alfredo Ruiz v Joe Smith" where Smith is a state prisoner who brought a civil rights suit against two of the wardens in the prison (Jones & Ruiz), the following values should be coded: number of appellants that fall into the category "natural persons" =0 and number that fall into the category "state governments, their agencies, and officials" =2. A similar logic should be applied to businesses and associations. Officers of a company or association whose role in the case is as a representative of their company or association should be coded as being a business or association rather than as a natural person. However, employees of a business or a government who are suing their employer should be coded as natural persons. Likewise, employees who are charged with criminal conduct for action that was contrary to the company policies should be considered natural persons.
If the title of a case listed a corporation by name and then listed the names of two individuals that the opinion indicated were top officers of the same corporation as the appellants, then the number of appellants should be coded as three and all three were coded as a business (with the identical detailed code). Similar logic should be applied when government officials or officers of an association were listed by name.
Your specific task is to determine the total number of appellants in the case that fall into the category "private business and its executives". If the total number cannot be determined (e.g., if the appellant is listed as "Smith, et. al." and the opinion does not specify who is included in the "et.al."), then answer 99.

Opinion:
Alexander McDONALD, Libelant-Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Respondent-Appellee, and Bethlehem Steel Company, Impleaded Respondent-Appellee.
No. 14086.
United States Court of Appeals Third Circuit.
Argued Feb. 5, 1963.
Decided Aug. 1, 1963.
Seymour Margulies, Jersey City, N. J. (Herbert Winokur, Levy, Lemken & Margulies, Jersey City, N. J., on the brief), for libelant-appellant.
M. E. DeOrehis, New York City (Connell & Corridon, Jersey City, N. J., Haight, Gardner, Poor & Havens, Stephen K. Carr, New York City, on the brief), for respondent-appellee.
John F. Lynch, Jersey City, N. J. (O’Mara, Schumann, Davis & Lynch, James Dorment, Jr., Jersey City, N. J., on the brief), for impleaded respondent-appellee, Bethlehem Steel Co.
Before KALODNER, STALEY and SMITH, Circuit Judges.
WILLIAM F. SMITH, Circuit Judge.
This suit in admiralty for personal injuries was brought against the United States of America under the Public-Vessels Act, 46 U.S.C.A. §§ 781-790, and against the American Export Lines under 28 U.S.C.A. § 1333(1). The alleged grounds of liability were breach of warranty of seaworthiness, and negligence. The suit against Export Lines was dismissed before answer filed, on consent of the libelant. The remaining respondent impleaded the Bethlehem Steel Company, the libelant’s employer. The present appeal is from a final decree dismissing the. libel and the impleading petition.
The libelant, an employee of Bethlehem Steel, was injured on April 1, 1959, while, employed as a painter on the S.S. Exochorda. This vessel was formerly owned by Export Lines and had been out of service for approximately one-year. It was acquired by the United States on March 16, 1959, under a contract, pursuant to the terms of which Export Lines, as General Agent, was required to have the vessel completely overhauled, put in a state of repair, and deactivated, preparatory to its being-placed in the reserve fleet, commonly known as the “moth ball” fleet. This, extensive work was to be done in accordance with NSA Order No. 64 (OPR-4Revised) and specifications prepared by-Export Lines. The contract for the work, was awarded to Bethlehem Steel,
The vessel was towed to the shipyard’ of Bethlehem Steel without steam or-power, and without a crew. It was delivered at the shipyard on March 16, and' on the following day was placed in dry-dock, where it remained until March 20, when it was refloated and moored at. pier side, where it remained until shortly - after noon on April 1, the date of the-accident. The work on the vessel was.. performed during the period from March. 17 until April 1, inclusive, during which time the vessel was in the exclusive;possession and control of Bethlehem Steel.
While the work was in progress there were several crew members, employed by Export Lines, on board from day to day, but their only responsibility was to inspect the work and to see that it was performed in accordance with the specifications; they exercised no control over the work or the manner of its performance. Export Lines also maintained an hourly security watch to protect the gear and equipment of the vessel against pilferage.
The accident occurred approximately four to five hours before the S.S. Exochorda was to be redelivered to Export Lines. The necessary repairs were near completion and the vessel had been completely deactivated. The trial judge found: “ * * * the vessel’s stern tube was disconnected and filled with preservative; her tail shaft was secured to prevent the turning of the propeller; her sea chests and all underwater overboard discharge lines were permanently blocked off; one shot of chain was disconnected from both the port and starboard anchor chains; the shaft alley drain well was cleaned out; the ship’s gangways were stowed in a lower hold; life boats were removed and stowed in a lower hold; the radar scanner was dismantled, and all storage lockers were permanently sealed off.” These findings are amply supported by the evidence.
It was on the basis of the facts herein-above outlined that the trial judge con•cluded that the S.S. Exochorda had been deactivated and withdrawn from navigation and that under the circumstances there was no implied warranty of seaworthiness. It is argued on behalf of the libelant that this conclusion was •erroneous. The argument is without .merit.
Claim Based on Warranty op Seaworthiness
We recognize at the outset, as we must, that under the implied warranty of seaworthiness the shipowner is under a duty to maintain the vessel, its gear and appurtenances, reasonably safe and suitable for the purposes intended. This duty, which is absolute and nondelegable, is owed not only to the members of the crew but also to the shore based employees of an independent contractor engaged aboard ship in work customarily performed by seamen. Seas Shipping Co. v. Sieracki, 328 U.S. 85, 66 S.Ct. 872, 90 L.Ed. 1099 (1946); Pope & Talbot, Inc. v. Hawn, 346 U.S. 406, 74 S.Ct. 202, 98 L.Ed. 143 (1953). However, it has been authoritatively settled, if it was ever in doubt, that the implied warranty may not be invoked as a basis of liability where the vessel has been withdrawn from navigation and is undergoing extensive renovation and repairs. West v. United States, 361 U.S. 118, 80 S.Ct. 189, 4 L.Ed.2d 161 (1959); Latus v. United States, 277 F.2d 264 (2d Cir., 1960), cert. den. 364 U.S. 827, 81 S.Ct. 65, 5 L.Ed.2d 55 (1960). It has been held that in these circumstances there is no warranty of seaworthiness. Ibid.
It is argued on behalf of the libelant that the cited cases are distinguishable because of their “converse fact situation [s].” The vessels involved in each of the cited cases had been withdrawn from the “moth ball” fleet and, at the time of the accidents in which the workmen were injured, were undergoing extensive repairs preparatory to their reactivation and return to maritime service. We fail to perceive any validity in this attempted distinction. The rule of the WEST case was applied in Noel v. Isbrandtsen Company, 287 F.2d 783 (4th Cir., 1961), cert. den. 366 U.S. 975, 81 S.Ct. 1944, 6 L.Ed.2d 1264 (1961), a case in which a workman sustained injury while the vessel was undergoing repairs and deactivation, as in the present case. The libelant’s argument, and the reasons advanced in support of it, are clearly without merit.
We should emphasize that the decision of the Supreme Court in the WEST case was predicated not only on the fact that the vessel had been withdrawn from maritime service but also on the further fact that it was “undergoing major repairs and complete renovation” at the time the workman sustained injury. Therein the Court stated, 361 U.S. at page 122, 80 S.Ct. at page 192, 4 L.Ed.2d 161: “This undertaking was not ‘ship’s work’ but a complete overhaul of such nature, magnitude, and importance as to require the vessel to be turned over to a ship repair contractor and docked at its pier for the sole purpose of making her seaworthy. It would be an unfair contradiction to say that the owner held the vessel out as seaworthy in such a case.” The rule of the case must be applied where, as here, the vessel has been withdrawn from maritime service and is undergoing extensive overhaul and repair preparatory to its deactivation. Noel v. Isbrandtsen Company, supra.
The shipowner’s liability under the warranty of seaworthiness is dependent upon not only the specific task being performed by the workman at the time of injury but also the nature and scope of the work in which he and other shore based employee’s are engaged. West v. United States, supra; United N. Y. & N. J. Sandy Hook Pilots Assn. v. Halecki, 358 U.S. 613, 79 S.Ct. 517, 3 L.Ed.2d 541 (1959); Desper v. Starved Rock Ferry Co., 342 U.S. 187, 72 S.Ct. 216, 96 L.Ed. 205 (1952); Berryhill v. Pacific Far East Line, 238 F.2d 385 (9th Cir., 1956), cert. den. 354 U.S. 938, 77 S.Ct. 1400, 1 L.Ed.2d 1537; Raidy v. United States, D.C., 153 F.Supp. 777, affd. 252 F.2d 117 (4th Cir., 1958), cert. den. 356 U.S. 973, 78 S.Ct. 1136, 2 L.Ed.2d 1147 (1958). See also Latus v. United States, supra. The warranty of seaworthiness does not extend to a shore based employee who, at the time of injury, was engaged with others in the general overhaul and renovation of a vessel temporarily withdrawn from maritime service. Such work is customarily performed in a shipyard equipped for the purpose, and is not work traditionally performed by seamen. Ibid.
Claim Based on Negligence
The libelant charges that the respondent was negligent in that it failed to exercise reasonable care to furnish him with a safe place to work. The trial judge concluded, on findings of fact supported by substantial evidence, that the respondent owed no duty to the libelant. This conclusion is challenged as erroneous.
The accident occurred on the morning of April 1, shortly after 7:30 A.M., while the S.S. Exochorda was still in the possession and control of Bethlehem Steel. The libelant and another workman, accompanied by their foreman, descended from the main deck to the ’tween deck, where they made an inspection of painting work which had been completed in the laundry on the previous day. Then, intending to return to the main deck by way of a ladder located in a cargo hold, they walked along a lighted passageway into the hold, which was in semidarkness, the portable lights having been removed the previous day. As the libelant proceeded across a hatch cover, he fell through an opening which had been created by the removal of two boards. There was some conflict in the testimony as to who had removed the boards. However, the trial judge found that the boards had been removed during the night prior to the accident by employees of Bethlehem Steel on the orders of a job supervisor.
The shipowner in possession and control owes a duty of reasonable care to workmen who come aboard the vessel to make repairs. The duty is to exercise reasonable care to furnish the workmen with a safe place to work. Mesle v. Kea Steamship Corporation, 260 F.2d 747 (3rd Cir., 1958), cert. den. 359 U.S. 966, 79 S.Ct. 875, 3 L.Ed.2d 834 (1959); Brabazon v. Belships Co., 202 F.2d 904 (3rd Cir., 1953). However, the test of the shipowner’s responsibility is possession and control. Where, as here, possession and control of the vessel are relinquished to an independent contractor, the shipowner owes no duty to the contractor’s employees. West v. United States, and Latus v. United States, supra. It was said by the Supreme Court in the WEST case, 361 U.S. at page 123, 80 S.Ct. at page 193, 4 L.Ed.2d 161: “It appears manifestly unfair to apply the requirement of a safe place to work to the shipowner when he has no control over the ship or the repairs, and the work of repair in effect creates the danger which makes the place unsafe.”
The libelant argues that possession and control of the S.S. Exochorda was retained by the respondent. The trial court found otherwise, and this finding, supported as it was by substantial evidence, cannot be held “clearly erroneous” under the rule of McAllister v. United States, 348 U.S. 19, 20, 75 S.Ct. 6, 99 L.Ed. 20 (1954). The libelant’s argument rests on a rather tenuous factual basis which does not warrant discussion.
Exclusion of Deposition
At the conclusion of the respondent’s case the libelant offered in evidence, by way of rebuttal, portions of a deposition. This deposition was that of a mate employed aboard the S.S. Exochorda while the work of renovation and deactivation was in progress. The offer of proof was rejected, and thereupon the libelant withdrew the deposition and did not make it a part of the record. It has been established that under these circumstances we are not required to consider the assignment of error predicated on the exclusion of the deposition. Palmer v. Hoffman, 318 U.S. 109, 116, 63 S.Ct. 477, 87 L.Ed. 645 (1943). We have nevertheless considered the question raised on the merits.
The mate was in attendance throughout the trial but was not called as a witness by either party. However, the libelant argues that the deposition was that of a “managing agent,” and was therefore admissible under Rule 30A(d) (2) of the Rules of Practice in Admiralty and Maritime Cases, as amended, 28 U.S.C.A. We do not agree. The mate was not per se a “managing agent” within the meaning of the rule. The admission of his deposition would have been error. Naylor v. Isthmian S.S. Co., 187 F.2d 538, 540 (2d Cir., 1951); see also Santiago v. American Export Lines, Inc., 30 F.R.D. 372 (S.D.N.Y.1962). It appears from the undisputed testimony in the record that the position of the mate was that of an inferior officer who had no supervisory authority and acted under the supervision and direction of his superior, a port engineer in the employ of Export Lines. It is clear that under these circumstances it cannot be held that the mate was a “managing agent.” Ibid.
The judgment of the District Court will be affirmed.
. 32(a) C.F.R. 317, et seq. (1958 Revision).
. Ibid.
. Work in the hold had been completed on. March 31, and after its completion the portable lights were removed and the main hatch was covered by the employees of Bethlehem Steel.
. The brief of the appellant incorrectly cites as authority the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

Question: What is the total number of appellants in the case that fall into the category "private business and its executives"? Answer with a number.

Choices:

Answer: 0