Injured sailor awarded Lm21,000 damages

A sailor injured while working on a ship was yesterday awarded Lm21,600 damages by Mr Justice Geoffrey Valenzia. sitting in the First Hall of the Civil Court.

Lawrence Attard filed his writ against Erling Krogh Jacobsen on behalf of Inter Shipping Co Ltd.

He claimed that he was injured while working as able seaman on the vessel SS Railro 2 in April 1988.

The court noted that the company had not provided a safe working environment for its employees. It resulted that Attard had been engaged to carry out spraying works on the lower hold of the vessel together with another sailor, Lawrence Ciantar. Their chief officer had told them to remove all items from the lower hold so as to prevent danger of fire.

The two men had started carrying tanks of paint from the lower hold to the main deck and from there to the upper deck. It resulted that Attard had lifted one of the tanks manually as the lift was not working.

Ciantar had remained in the lower hold to secure the tanks so that they could be raised one at a time. Each tank contained 20 litres of paint.

After Attard had carried up a number of tanks he hurt his back and could not move.

Mr Justice Valenzia found that the company had failed to provide a safe working atmosphere and had also failed to provide its employees with the necessary machinery for heavy lifting. As a result, the company was ordered to pay Attard damages for the injury he had sustained.

The evidence showed that Attard would not be able to work again. The court-appointed medical expert was of the opinion that he had sustained a 20 per cent permanent disability.

In calculating the damages, the court took into consideration Attard's income at the time of the accident.