Court Opinion

ID: 9447118
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 22:26:11.610752+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:30:54.372632
License: Public Domain

BIGGS, Chief Judge
(dissenting).
The record shows that the accident to King, the longshoreman whose claim against Waterman Steamship Corporation, the third-party plaintiff-appellant, was reasonably compromised by it, was caused by two factors. The accident occurred, first, because of the improper stowage of the cargo, bags of sugar, and second, because of the negligence of Dugan & McNamara Company, Inc., the third-party defendant, in unloading the cargo. It was stipulated that there was “no agreement, written or oral, between the ship and Dugan & McNamara”. The decision of this court is based upon the absence of contractual privity between Waterman and Dugan & McNamara though it appears to be conceded that if there were a contractual relation between them indemnity might be had by Waterman. See Ryan Stevedoring Co., Inc. v. Pan Atlantic Steamship Corp., 1956, 350 U.S. 124, 76 S.Ct. 232, 100 L.Ed. 133, and Weyerhaeuser Steamship Co. v. Nacirema Operating Co., Inc., 1958, 355 U.S. 563, 78 S.Ct. 438, 2 L.Ed.2d 491.
In the decision of the Supreme Court in Crumady v. The Joachim Hendrik Fisser, 1959, 358 U.S. 423, 428-429, 79 S.Ct. 445, 448, 3 L.Ed.2d 413, Mr. Justice Douglas stated: “We think this case is governed by the principle announced in the Ryan ease. The warranty which a stevedore owes when he goes aboard a vessel to perform services is plainly for the benefit of the vessel whether the vessel’s owners are parties to the contract or not. That is enough to bring the vessel into the zone of modern law that recognizes rights in third-party beneficiaries. Restatement, Law of Contracts, § 133. Moreover, as we said in the Ryan case [cited supra], ‘competency and safety of stowage are inescapable elements of the service undertaken.’ 350 U.S. at page 133, 76 S.Ct. at page 237. They are part of the stevedore’s ‘warranty of workmanlike service that is comparable to a manufacturer’s warranty of the soundness of its manufac*827tured product.’ Id., 350 U.S. at pages 133-134, 76 S.Ct. at pages 237 [-238]. See MacPherson v. Buick Motor Co., 217 N.Y. 382, 111 N.E. 1050, L.R.A.1916F, 696.
"We conclude that since the negligence of the stevedores, which brought the unseaworthiness of the vessel into play, amounted to a breach of the warranty of workmanlike service, the vessel may recover over.”
I can perceive no merit to the distinction attempted to be made by the majority that the proceeding in Crumady was in rem against the vessel and that the evidence showed that the shipowner had chartered the vessel to an operator who had contracted with the stevedoring company to unload it. Crumady shows that Waterman by way of the third-party beneficiary contract, was entitled to the warranty of workmanlike service that Dugan & McNamara, Inc. gave when it undertook to unload the vessel.
The judgment of the court below should be reversed.
GOODRICH and McLAUGHLIN, JJ., join in this dissent.