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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND MICHAEL THAMES, SR. v. M/V TARAGO, et al. * * * * * ***** MEMORANDUM In this action Plaintiff Michael Thames seeks damages for injuries he suffered in an accident onboard the marine vessel M/V Tarago while it was berthed at the Dundalk Marine Terminal in Baltimore. Discovery has been completed, and Defendants Mid-Atlantic Terminal, LLC and Wilhelmsen Lines, AS have filed motions for summary judgment. For the reasons stated below, those motions are granted1. I. In July 2002, Thames was employed as a driver for P&O Ports ("P&O"), a stevedoring company operating in the Port of Baltimore. P&O hires, supervises, and trains its employees and provides them with the equipment necessary to load and unload cargo from ships in port. Although he possessed over thirty years of experience as a longshoreman, Thames had been working as a driver for only a few months. On the morning of July 25, P&O was unloading cargo from the M/V Tarago, a ship owned by Defendant Wilhelmsen Lines, AS, at a terminal operated by Defendant Mid-Atlantic Terminal, LLC ("MAT"). P&O assigned Thames to move cargo from Deck 3 up a ramp to the main deck and then off the ship. To carry out this task, Thames was provided a "yard hustler" or

Civil No. JFM-04-2854

My ruling on the summary judgment motions moots a motion to bifurcate filed by Thames.

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"fifth wheel", which is a tractor-like vehicle designed to pull trailers on and off ships and around the terminal area. Before driving onto the M/V Tarago, Thames obtained an attachment for the yard hustler called a "peter," which is designed to allow the yard hustler to be hooked up to flat trailers called "mafis." P&O owned and maintained the yard hustler and the peter. At all times that morning, Thames was supervised by P&O employees, one of which was gang carrier Michael Brogley. Sometime between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., Brogley instructed Thames to attach his yard hustler to a mafi located close to the ramp on Deck 3 and move it up the ramp to the main deck. According to Thames, the mafi had several smaller boxes on its front end and a much larger box on the back end. According to Brogley, at least some of the boxes had writing on them indicating their weights. Upon seeing the mafi, Thames thought the boxes looked too heavy for the yard hustler to safely move the mafi and told a P&O supervisor so. The supervisor, whom Thames cannot now identify but most likely was Brogley, disregarded Thames' warning and told him to proceed. Thames attached the peter on his yard hustler to the mafi and Brogley attached large safety chains from the yard hustler to the mafi. Thames then began to drive the yard hustler up the ramp. After proceeding a short distance, the mafi detached from the peter and fell backward, causing the yard hustler to rise into the air under the weight of the mafi. The yard hustler, which was still attached by chains to the mafi, began to violently bounce up and down. Thames repeatedly hit his head on the ceiling and steering wheel, resulting in serious injuries. It is undisputed that no MAT employees were onboard the ship at the time of the accident. Brogley testified that he was not aware of anyone from the ship's crew having been on Deck 3 at the time of the accident, but Thames testified there were multiple "WW" employees in

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the area at the time. Presumably these "WW" employees were the ship's crew. Following the accident, Thames brought suit against the M/V Tarago and "MID ATLANTIC TERMINAL, a body corporate a Subsidiary [sic] or division of, or T/A WALLENIUS WILHELMSMEN LINES TERMINALS also known as WALLENIUS WILHELMSEN ATLANTIC LLC, a body corporate." (Am. Compl. at 1.) The suit was originally filed in the Circuit Court of Baltimore City and removed on diversity grounds. Thames' complaint contains two counts, one under the Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act ("LHWCA"), 33 U.S.C.

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