Opinion ID: 406213
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Facts and Arguments

Text: 2 Two employees of defendant United Ship Repair, Inc. (employer) were repairing the boilers of a ship owned by plaintiff Cove Tankers Corp. (shipowner) while the vessel was underway on a voyage from Philadelphia to New York. During the voyage, the vessel deviated from its scheduled course onto the high seas 135 miles offshore. There, we are told, a boiler exploded and one ship repairman was killed and another injured. The injured employee and the next of kin of the deceased employee brought damage claims against the shipowner, which settled the claims for almost $300,000. Thereafter, the shipowner sought indemnification for that amount and for legal fees and expenses from the employer, which had compensated the claimants under the Act. The district court granted judgment on the pleadings, finding that the phrase injury occurring upon the navigable waters of the United States, 33 U.S.C. § 903(a), covered employees repairing ships on the high seas, and that therefore the shipowner's right of indemnification was barred by the Act, 33 U.S.C. § 905(b). 3 On appeal, the shipowner renews the argument it made in the district court, that the high seas are not navigable waters of the United States. Not surprisingly, the employer argues that the contrary view of the district court is correct. The employer also presses two arguments that the district court did not address: First, in defining employer, 33 U.S.C. § 902(4), the Act includes maritime workers employed in whole or in part, upon the navigable waters of the United States (emphasis supplied); therefore, repairman on a voyage occurring in part on territorial waters are covered for the whole voyage. Second, the situs requirement of the Act has been replaced by a functional test and any harborworker including a ship repairman, 33 U.S.C. § 902(3), is covered without regard to the place where the injury occurred. Sea-Land Service, Inc. v. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, 540 F.2d 629, 636 (3d Cir. 1976). The parties agree that the only issue is whether on these facts the Act applies. If it does, the shipowner concedes that the Act bars it from obtaining indemnification from the employer.