Ake Nygren v. American Boat Cartage, Inc.

Plaintiff was engaged in making repairs on the S.S. Kalo, a vessel lying at anchor in New York harbor, and was to be returned to shore to get additional parts, as a passenger for hire aboard defendant’s water taxi. He was injured when he jumped from the Kalo’s accommodation ladder and landed on rope “flaked” but not coiled on the taxi’s deck instead of the railing for which he aimed. Federal jurisdiction was based on diversity of citizenship, and the action was tried to the court sitting without a jury. Judge Levet found defendant negligent in failing to provide a reasonably safe means of…