Nature of the Case
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Facts
The seaman lost his life on the tug Arthur N. Herron, which, on the night of November 18, 1952, while towing a scow on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, caught fire when an open-flame kerosene lamp on the deck of the scow ignited highly inflammable vapors lying above an extensive accumulation of petroleum products spread over the surface of the river. Several oil refineries and facilities for oil storage, and for loading and unloading petroleum products, are located along the banks of the Schuylkill River. The trial court found that the lamp was not more than three feet above the water. Maintaining the lamp at a height of less than eight feet violated a navigation rule promulgated by the Commandant of the United States Coast Guard. The trial court found that the vapor would not have been ignited if the lamp had been carried at the required height. The Court held that this violation of statute did not impose liability because 'the Coast Guard regulation had to do solely with navigation and was intended for the prevention of collisions and was created for no other purpose. Since there was no collision and no fault of navigation the violation of the statute did not apply. P claimed the statutory violation made the flotilla unseaworthy, creating liability without regard to fault. P also claims that under today's general maritime law, the personal representative of a deceased seaman may elect, as the seaman himself may elect, between an action based on FELA and an action, recognized in The Osceola, 189 U.S. 158, 175, based upon unseaworthiness. The appeals court affirmed and P appealed.
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