In the event of a breach of its warranty of workmanlike service, the stevedoring company is liable to the shipowner for the entire amount of the longshoreman's judgment against the shipowner, together with reasonable counsel fees and the reasonable costs of defending the suit. See Nicroli v. Den Norske Afrika-Og Australielinie Wilhelmsens Dampskibs-Aktieselskab, 210 F.Supp. 93 (S.D.N.Y.1962) ,aff'd 332 F.2d 651 (2d Cir. 1964); supra In the present case, Gloucester Stevedoring Company breached its warranty of workmanlike service.
3. The stevedore's negligence was a proximate cause of Jackson's injuries. Once the stevedore's agents ascertained that the ship's winches were not operating safely, they had an affirmative duty to order their men to cease using the defective winches. T. Smith and Sons, Inc. v. Skibs A/S Hassel, 362 F.2d 745, 747 (5th Cir. 1966); Olin Mathieson Chemical Corp. v. United Stevedoring Division, States Marine Lines, 317 F. Supp. 1373 (S.D.Tex. 1969) (per Seals, J.). Simpson v. Royal Rotterdam Lloyd, 225 F. Supp. 947, 952-953 (S.D.N.Y. 1964); Nicroli v. Den Norske Afrieka-Og Australielinie, etc., 210 F. Supp. 93, 97 (S.D.N.Y. 1962); affd. 322 F.2d 651 (2nd Cir. 1963). This opinion was recently sent to the West Publishing Company by the court.
A contrary view was expressed in Malfitano v. King Line, Ltd., 198 F.Supp. 399 (S.D.N.Y.1961), based on the policy of avoiding piecemeal trials, and upon the advisability of resolving substantive issues upon specific facts. The only other cases in point, Cook v. The MV Wasaborg, 189 F.Supp. 464 (D.C.Oreg.1960); and Nicroli v. Den Norske Afrika-Og Australielinie, etc., 210 F.Supp. 93 (S.D.N.Y.1962) held against the stevedore on the merits without discussion of the propriety of such a claim. In my view Cavelleri and Johnson are the more persuasive of these authorities.
Although it has been held that there is no duty on the part of a stevedore to inspect a vessel prior to beginning work, Orlando v. Prudential S.S. Corp., 313 F.2d 822 (2 Cir. 1963), once a stevedore has knowledge of an unsafe condition, there is an obligation upon the stevedore either to remedy the condition or to cause the ship to do so. Tedeschi v. Luckenbach S.S. Co., 324 F.2d 628, 2 Cir., 1963; Caputo v. United States Lines Co., 311 F.2d 413, 415 (2 Cir.), cert. denied, Imparato Stevedoring Corp. v. United States Lines Co., 374 U.S. 833, 83 S.Ct. 1871, 10 L.Ed.2d 1055 (1963); Drago v. A/S Inger, supra; DeGioia v. United States Lines Co., 304 F.2d 421, 424 (2 Cir. 1962); Misurella v. Isthmian Lines, Inc., 215 F. Supp. 857, 863 (S.D.N.Y. 1963), appeal docketed, No. 28350, 2 Cir., July 12, 1963; Nicroli v. Den Norske Afrika-OG Australielinie Wilhelmsens Dampskibs-Aktieselskab, 210 F. Supp. 93, 97 (S.D.N.Y. 1962). This obligation of a stevedore includes ordinarily the duty not to continue work until a known dangerous condition has been made reasonably safe. Caputo v. United States Lines Co., supra; United States v. Arrow Stevedoring Co., 175 F.2d 329, 331 (9 Cir.), cert. denied, 338 U.S. 904, 70 S.Ct. 307, 94 L.Ed. 557 (1949); Misurella v. Isthmian Lines, Inc., supra; Cassone v. Compania Anonima Venezolana De Navegacion, 1962 A.M.C. 1347, 1351 (S.D.N.Y.); Nicroli v. Den Norske Afrika-OG Australielinie Wilhelmsens Dampskibs-Aktieselskab, supra; Hugev v. Dampskisaktieselskabet Int'l, 170 F. Supp. 601, 608 (S.D.Cal. 1959), aff'd sub nom., Metropolitan Stevedore Co. v. Dampskisaktieselskabet Int'l, 274 F.2d 875 (9 Cir.), cert. denied, 363 U.S. 803, 80 S.Ct. 1237, 4 L.Ed.2d 1147 (1960); Revel v. American Export Lines, Inc., 162 F. Supp. 279, 287 (E.D.Va. 1958), aff'd, 266 F.2d 82 (4 Cir. 1959).