Lauro De Los Santos v. Scindia Steam Navigation Co., Ltd., Seattle Stevedore Co., Intervenor

Several 50 pound sacks of grain tumbled off a pallet, severely injuring appellant longshoreman Lauro De Los Santos, who was working in a ship’s hold. Santos sued appellee shipowner Scindia Steam Navigation Co. (“Scindia”), alleging that the accident had occurred because the shipowner had negligently failed to repair the winch by means of which the pallet was lowered into the hold. The district court granted the shipowner’s motion for summary judgment. Its opinion is reported at 1976 A.M.C. 2583 . We reverse.

I. The Facts.

Stated in the light most favorable to Santos, against whom summary judgment was granted, the facts are these:

On the evening of December 10, 1972, Santos and other longshoremen employed by the Seattle Stevedoring Company were loading a cargo of wheat into a hold in Scindia’s vessel, the M/S JALARATNA. The longshoremen used a winch that was part of the ship’s gear to lower wooden pallets, each carrying seventy fifty-pound sacks of wheat, into the hold.

The ship’s winch was unusual in that its controls were located on a platform more than 25 feet above the main deck. From that point, the winch driver could not actually see a pallet of sacks as he lowered it…