Reetz v. Kinsman Marine Transit Co.

Richard L. Reetz commenced this action against Kinsman Marine Transit Company to recover for injuries he sustained in September, 1974, while employed as a deckhand aboard Kinsman’s vessel the Merle McCurdy. At that time, while engaged in a procedure to open the hatches on the vessel, Reetz fell backwards into an open hatch and plummeted approximately 40 feet to the steel deck below.

Reetz alleged under the Jones Act, 46 USC 688, that his injuries were caused by Kinsman’s negligence in failing to properly train Reetz or, alternatively, that Kinsman was liable because of the vessel’s…