Torres

— This appeal involves a longshoreman’s personal injury action under federal maritime law against the time charterer of a vessel. We affirm the summary judgment for the defendant.

Background

Plaintiff Sam Torres worked as a longshoreman in the Port of Long Beach. On April 22, 1987, Torres was injured while working in the hold of the vessel Spring Bear. Torres sued, among others, the vessel (owned by Zeerederij Zuid-Holland B.V.) and the vessel’s time charterer, Cool Carriers (Svenska) A.B. Cool Carriers is the only defendant involved in this appeal.

In 1985 Cool Carriers contracted with Torres’s employer, Metropolitan Stevedore Company, for the loading of cargoes onto vessels “owned, operated, or otherwise controlled by [Cool Carriers] at Los Angeles/Long Beach harbors” for a five-year term. It was pursuant to this stevedoring contract that Torres was loading cargo onto the Spring Bear when he was injured on April 22, 1987.

Torres alleges liability against Cool Carriers for the injuries he sustained when “a pallet jack he was operating struck a weak spot in the deck gratings, causing the jack to stop abruptly and topple boxes onto” him. (Torres also claimed below, but…