Galban v. Penn Shipping Co.

This is an action by a seaman employed on the vessel Penn Explorer, an old American Liberty vessel, to recover damages for personal injuries sustained on the high seas on April 1, 1958, in the course of his duties as a member of the crew of such vessel. He sought recovery against the owners and operators of the vessel under general maritime law on the theory of negligence and on the theory that the owners and operators violated their duty to furnish a seaworthy vessel.

When the vessel embarked from Norfolk, Virginia, on March 21, 1958, about 25 drums or barrels of lubricating oil, weighing…