The Case....A summary by Stanley Gruber

Charles Sovel's client, Albert Howlett, was injured when he fell into an opening in a stow of cargo aboard a vessel while working as a longshoreman in connection with discharging that cargo from the ship, while it was berthed in the Port of Philadelphia. The cargo had been loaded by a foreign stevedore in a foreign port. During the course of loading the cargo, the foreign stevedore had placed an opaque plastic cover over the opening so that it was not visible to Mr. Howlett. Mr. Sovel sued the owner of the vessel, contending that that the ship owner had breached its duty of having the ship and its gear and appurtenances in such condition, prior to turning it over to the unloading stevedore, that an experienced stevedore could carry on cargo operations with reasonable safety to its longshoremen. However, the Trial Court entered Summary Judgment against Mr. Howlett finding that the ship owner had to have actual knowledge of this "latent " condition in order to be liable under its turnover duty to the longshoremen and that there was insufficient evidence of such knowledge.