Sherfy

ORDER DENYING SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOTION BY BARGE MARIN HORIZON

INTRODUCTION

In this maritime case, the general issue concerns allocation of the responsibility for injuries sustained by a seaman who fell while descending a jacobs ladder from one vessel to his own. On the narrower question posed by this motion for summary judgment, the seaman’s vessel, sued in rem, seeks a declaration that it was seaworthy and that it cannot be deemed otherwise merely because the jacobs ladder may have been improperly rigged by the crew of the other vessel. Viewing the summary judgment record most favorably to plaintiff, as must be done on summary judgment, the Court holds that a jury could reasonably find that the seaman’s own vessel was unseaworthy in such circumstances. Under the warranty of seaworthiness, every vessel owes a non-dele-gable duty to its crew to provide safe means of ingress and egress. The means used here was not safe by reason of a defective condition or so a jury could reasonably find. It does not matter that the defective condition was caused by the crew of the other vessel or that it was merely a temporary condition. The motion also seeks a ruling that the barge may recover…