## Facts

- The S.S. *Karina* was owned by Fritz Kopke, Inc. and time-chartered to Alcoa Steamship Co.
- Cooper Stevedoring Co. previously loaded palletized crates onto the vessel.
- During later loading operations, longshoreman Troy Sessions (employed by a different stevedore, Mid-Gulf Stevedores, Inc.) stepped into a concealed gap between crates allegedly created by Cooper’s earlier loading.
- Sessions sued the vessel interests for unseaworthiness and negligence.
- The vessel interests filed a third-party claim against Cooper seeking contribution if the vessel interests were held liable.
- The district court found both the vessel interests and Cooper negligent, entered judgment for Sessions against the vessel interests, and awarded contribution from Cooper, dividing liability equally.
- The Fifth Circuit affirmed the contribution award.

## Issues

1. Whether, in a noncollision maritime personal-injury case, a vessel liable to an injured longshoreman may obtain contribution from a negligent stevedore that was not the longshoreman’s employer.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court affirmed the Fifth Circuit.
- Contribution between the vessel interests and Cooper was proper in this noncollision maritime case.
- The Court distinguished *Halcyon Lines v. Haenn Ship Corp.* as limited to situations where contribution would conflict with the Longshoremen’s and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) employer-liability scheme.
- Because Sessions was not Cooper’s employee and could have sued Cooper directly, no LHWCA-based bar prevented contribution.
- Justice Stewart took no part; the decision was otherwise unanimous.

## Legal Principles

- Admiralty generally permits contribution between joint tortfeasors so that each pays its fair share when both are at fault.
- *Halcyon* does not create a general maritime prohibition on contribution; it reflects LHWCA policy concerns tied to employer exclusivity.
- Where the injured party could have sued either alleged tortfeasor directly, a liable tortfeasor may seek contribution from the other absent a statutory or policy bar.
- In noncollision maritime cases, contribution is available between non-employer joint tortfeasors whose negligence jointly caused the injury.

## Conclusion

The Court held that maritime law allows contribution in a noncollision longshoreman injury case between a vessel and a negligent stevedore that was not the worker’s employer, because no LHWCA exclusivity policy barred shifting a proportionate share of the loss.


Cooper Stevedoring Co. v. Fritz Kopke, Inc., 417 U.S. 106 (1974)