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Late Decisions in Maritime Law Legal Tips for Shipowners and Officers MUTUAL release signed by a seaman releasing the master, the owner, and the ship for all claims or charges for wages for the voyage is conclusive upon the seaman, seek- ing to recover wages, in the absence of fraud or coercion.—ABERDEEN, 7 Fed. Supp. 856. * * F A SHIP is unseaworthy in any material respect, the owner is not exempted from liability for damage to cargo even if the damage was caused by error in management. The owner of a ship on which cargo was damaged has the burden of proving seaworthiness, and any doubt must be resolved against him; the court must be convinced beyond at least a substantial doubt that the ship was seaworthy in order to find for the shipowner. Proper stowage of cargo is part of a vessel’s seaworthiness, and proper dunnage is an element of proper stowage. By ‘“‘dunnage’”’ is meant the wood, mats, or other material used to keep cargo clear of the deck or hull of a ship. On deck, dunnaging is used also to facilitate drainage. It is highly im- portant that dunnage boards should not ‘‘foul’’ the sounding pipes; that is, should not lie too close to the pipe and prevent the carpenter from taking his soundings in the proper way. In the case of INDIEN, 71 F. (2d) 752, it appeared that in dunnaging a cargo of lumber no attempt was made to compensate for the ships “sheer’’ and that the ship was over- loaded, being loaded below the Plimsoll marks. The court held the ship to be unseaworthy, precluding exemption of the owner from liability for damage to the cargo caused by water entering through the sounding pipe when the cap came off. % * % tional sale of a vessel must ex- pressly deny authority to the buyer to create a lien in order to exclude liability for liens created by the mas- ter, and an agreement to keep the vessel clear of liens did not preclude the buyer from creating voluntary liens which become prior to the seller’s lien, it was held in the case of Munson Inland Water Lines vy. Seidl, 71 F. (2d) 791. It was de- A’ AGREEMENT for the condi- 22 By Harry Bowne Skillman Attorney at Law Specially Compiled for Marine Review cided, further, that persons furnish- ing supplies or rendering salvage services to a vessel sold under a con- ditional sales contract were not re- quired to investigate the master’s authority, where the master had power to lien the boat for necessary repairs or salvage services. Persons furnishing services to obtain release of a stranded vessel under agreement for a fixed compensation payable re- gardless of success of their efforts were not entitled to priority of lien over other claimants having liens arising out of a single trip on the Great Lakes. *% * * HE federal longshoremen’s and harbor workers’ act was designed to accomplish the same_ general purpose as the workman’s compen- sation laws of the states, and con- gress intended to except from the benefits of the law only those per- sons ordinarily and generally con- sidered as seafaring men, at least only those employed on board a ves- sel having a master and crew. The law was construed in the case of De Wald vy. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co., 71 F. (2d) 810, where the court held that a bargeman whose duties ere to check and supervise the loading and unloading of cargo and keeping a record, and who went home every night, and who was the sole worker on barges which were not navigated under their own power, was not master or member of the crew so as to preclude recovery for his death under the law above referred to. * * * S USED in the navigation acts, the term ‘trades’ is synony- mous with “‘business’’. The trade or business of a vessel licensed for the coastwise trade is the transportation of freight and passengers for hire between ports of the United States. In order to ply her trade, she must engage in a voyage. Intention as to the ultimate destination of goods fixes the character of transportation, whether intrastate, interstate, or foreign. After the above generali- zations, the court, in the case of United States v. Picou, 71 F. (2d) 854, decided specifically that a libel charging that a vessel licensed for MARINE REVIEW—J anuary, 1935 the coastwise trade engage in a voy- age with intent to transship intoxi- cating liquor from a vessel on the high seas and illegally import it into the United States sufficiently stated a case for the condemnation and for- feiture of such vessel for engaging in a trade other than that for which she was licensed. % * * ORPORATION, expressly con- tracting for the security of in- dorsed notes for a portion of the sum due it for materials and labor expended in repairing a vessel, with- out stipulating for the retention of a maritime line, waived a lien for the portion of the work paid for by notes, it was declared in the case of PRESIDENT ARTHUR, 72 F. (2d) 276. The shipowner’s agreement in the contract for repairs to place no mortgage on the vessel before a date immediately after the contract time for payment and assurance in a sub- sequent letter to the repair company that no mortgage was contemplated held not to show such company’s intention to rely on the credit of the vessel as security for the portion of the contract price paid by the notes. * * * HILE a lighter moored to MW lighter was bound to know the condition of and not over- charge such other lighter’s fasts, the latter lighter, by accepting the added burden, might be charged with the duty to take reasonably necessary steps to prevent injury; but such duty did not excuse the former lighter’s failure to use due care to see that the mooring did not cause the other lighter’s lines to part dur- ing a subsequent storm. The moored lighter, to which the other lighter was tied, was not charged with the duty to take steps to prevent injury therefrom because of the storm until it became evident that the latter lighter was not taking required pre- cautions, nor obliged to maintain a watch to determine such fact, and hence was guilty of no fault con- tributing to the collision between the lighters and another moored ves- sel after the lines broke.—Trenton, 72 Ei (2d): 283.