Arne Armus Lahde v. Soc. Armadora Del Norte, a Corporation, of the Steamship Theogennitor, Etc.

Lahde appeals from a decree of the District Court dismissing without a hearing on the merits his amended libel in rem against the steamship Theogen-nitor in which he, a stevedore, sought damages for injuries arising from his falling into an open hatch in an illy lighted passageway leading to his place of work. The grounds of the dismissal are that the libel failed to allege a cause of action either based on unseaworthiness of the vessel or on negligence on the part of the officers and crew.

A. The Libel Sufficiently States the Injuries were Caused by the Vessel’s Unseaworthiness.

The libel alleges that the stevedore came on board the vessel as an invitee to remove a stringer of timber on the starboard side of the ship, the removal a part of stevedoring the ship. To reach the stringer he would pass from an open door on the portside of the ship, enter the ’tween deck space and walk to an open door on the starboard side. The ’tween deck space was dimly lighted and nevertheless had an open hatch from which two hatchboards had been removed. This dangerous condition, the libel alleges, was known “to the owner, master and crew”.

In this dimly lighted area the stevedore fell through…