M'Laren v Canadian Pacific Steamships, Ltd
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Judgment Date | 03 June 1926 |
| Docket Number | No. 80. |
| Date | 03 June 1926 |
| Court | Court of Session |
Lord Sands, Lord Blackburn, Lord Ashmore.
Workmen's CompensationAct 1906 (6 Edw. VII. cap. 58), sec. 1 (1)Out of and in the course of the employmentMerchant Shipping Act, 1906 (6 Edw. VII. cap. 48), sec. 32 (1)Seaman discharged in foreign portStatutory obligation on owners to maintain seaman pending his return homeAcceptance by seaman of offer of maintenance on board shipAccident to seaman while being maintained on ship.
A seaman, while on a round voyage from Glasgow, was discharged at Antwerp where his ship was detained for repairs. The employers were under obligation, in terms of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1906, sec. 32 (1), to make adequate provision for the seaman's maintenance and return to a proper return port. In fulfilment of this obligation the employers, on discharging the seaman, offered him board and lodging on board the ship, and he accepted this offer. On the evening following his discharge he returned to the ship after spending the day ashore, and, while descending a ladder to the stokehold to get some clothes which he had left there to dry, he fell and sustained injuries from which he died.
Held that the arbitrator was entitled to find that the accident did not arise out of and in the course of the employment.
In an arbitration under the Workmen's Compensation Acts, 1906 to 1923, in the Sheriff Court of Lanarkshire at Glasgow, Mrs Mary Ann Donachie or M'Laren, widow of John M'Laren, ship's fireman, claimed compensation in respect of the death of her husband from his employers, Canadian Pacific Steamships, Limited. The Sheriff-substitute (W. J. Robertson) refused compensation, and, at the request of the claimant, stated a case for appeal.
The case set forth, inter alia, the following findings in fact:(1) It is admitted that the late John M'Laren, ship's fireman, died on 13th October 1924 in hospital at Antwerp from injuries received on 21st September 1924, about midnight, through falling down a vertical ladder into the stokehold of the s.s. Marburn, belonging to the respondents, and then lying in Antwerp Harbour; (2) It is also admitted that the deceased's wage was 10 a month, the appellant is his widow, and was wholly dependent upon him, and the compensation if due is 300; (3) It is also admitted that the ship on arriving at Antwerp required repairs, and the bulk of the crew, including the deceased, were paid off and discharged on the forenoon of 21st September, the officers and a skeleton crew being retained; (4) It is admitted that the ship was on a round voyage from Glasgow to Montreal and back via Cherbourg and Antwerp, and the port of shipment of the deceased was Glasgow; (5) The respondents are under obligation by statute to maintain hands discharged in a foreign port until their arrival at the port of shipment, and to return them to that port, in terms of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1906;* (6) The hands, including the deceased, were paid off between 10 a.m. and noon, when the deceased signed off the ship's articles and received his discharge. His wages included a full day's pay for 21st September. Seamen always receive a full day's wage for the day on which they are paid off irrespective of the hour of discharge; (7) The paying off and discharging of the men was executed in accordance with statutory regulations by the Shipmaster of the Port of Antwerp, the British Vice-Consul, and a representative of the Board of Trade, who were in charge of the whole proceedings, as the authority under section 49 of the aforesaid Act, while the pursers disbursed the wages on behalf of the respondents, and the chief officer of the ship attended; (8) The Shipmaster and the Board of Trade representative directed the discharged men, including the deceased, that, as there was no available means of transport to the United Kingdom that day, they were to return for tea and to sleep on board that night, and to muster at 5 o'clock on Monday morning for departure; (9) The obligation to maintain seamen discharged in a foreign port includes provision of board and lodging, and the direction to sleep on board was a customary and convenient mode of fulfilling that obligation; (10) The respondents provided no alternative accommodation and were not bound to do so, while, on the other hand, the discharged men were not bound to obey said direction, as they could stay on shore at their own expense if they chose, and there was no means of enforcing the direction; (11) The discharged men in fact regarded the instructions given as an order and obeyed them; (12) The ship's officers have no jurisdiction over the men as seamen once they are discharged, and the repatriation of the men is arranged for by the proper authorities on shore; (13) About noon the deceased with some shipmates left the ship and perambulated Antwerp in company, with a short interval between 5 and 6 p.m., when they revisited the ship for tea provided by the respondents, until after 11 p.m., when they returned on board; (15) His four comrades gave evidence that the deceased left them at the fiddley door, being a door off the alley on the lower deck opening on to the ladder leading to the stokehold, for the purpose of recovering...
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