Farrell v. United States et al. 69 S. Ct. 707; 336 U. S. 511.
United States Supreme Court, April 4, 1949. Jackson, J.
Holding that the right to cure and maintenance of an American seaman, suffering permanent disability from a fall while on shore leave in an Italian port, was terminated when the maximum cure possible had been effected, the Court rejected the seaman’s contention that under medieval doctrines of admiralty he was entitled to maintenance for life. The Court said in part:
The law of the sea is in a peculiar sense an international law, but application of its specific rules depends upon acceptance by the United States. The problem of the sick or injured seaman has concerned every maritime country and, in 1936, the General Conference of the International Labor Organization at Geneva submitted a draft convention to the United States and other states. It was ratified by the Senate and was proclaimed by the President as effective for the United States on October 29, 1939. 54 Stat. 1693. Article 4, paragraph 1, thereof, provides: “The shipowner shall be liable to defray the expense of medical care and maintenance until the sick or injured person has been cured, or until the sickness or incapacity has been declared of a permanent character.”
While enactment of this general rule by Congress would seem controlling, it is not amiss to point out that the limitation thus imposed was in accordance with the understanding of those familiar with the laws of the sea and sympathetic with the seaman’s problems.
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That the duty of the ship to maintain and care for the seaman after the end of the voyage only until he was so far cured as possible, seems to have been the doctrine of the American admiralty courts prior to the adoption of the Convention by Congress, despite occasional ambiguity of language or reservation as to possible situations not before the court. It has been the rule of the admiralty courts since the Convention.
