Manila Railroad vs La Compania Transatlantica

Facts:

Two locomotive boilers owned by The Manila Railroad Company arrived at Manila via the Steamship
Alicante owned by CompañiaTrasatlantica de Barcelona.

The equipment of the ship for discharging heavy cargo was not su ciently strong to handle
theseboilers, so the Steamship Company had to procure assistance from The Atlantic, ulf and !aci"c
Company #hereafter called theAtlantic Company$% The service to be performed by the Atlantic
Company consisted in bringing its &oating crane alongsidethe Alicante, lifting the boilers out of the
ship's hold, and transferring them to a barge which would be placed ready to receivethem%(hile the
boiler was being hoisted, it was not properly done as the rivet near the head of the boiler was
caught under the edge of the hatch% The weight on the crane was thus increased by a strain
estimated at "fteen tons with the result that the cable of thesling parted and the boiler fell to
the bottom of the ship's hold% #nataga) ang boiler unya na)aduha pa *ud +a nataga)$ The boiler
was badly damaged that it had to be reshipped to ngland where it was rebuilt, and afterwards
was returned to
Manila% The Railroad Company's damage by reason of the cost of repairs, e+penses, and loss of the
use of the boiler proved to be!--,./.%-01 and as to the amount of the damage so resulting there is
practically no dispute% To recover these damages the presentaction was instituted by the Railroad
Company against the Steamship Company who in turn caused the Atlantic Company to bebrought in
as a codefendant, and insisted that whatever liability e+isted should be "+ed upon the Atlantic
Company as anindependent contractor who had underta)en to discharge the boilers and had
become responsible for such damage as had
beendone% The *udge of the Court of 2irst 3nstance gave *udgment in favor of the plainti4 against t
he Atlantic Company, but absolved theSteamship Company from the complaint%

Issue:

#5$ 3s the Steamship Company liable to the plainti4 by reason of having delivered the boiler in
question in a damaged condition6 #-$3s the Atlantic Company liable to be made to respond to the
steamship company for the amount the latter may be required to payto the plainti4 for the damage
done 6 #.$ 3s the Atlantic Company directly liable to the plainti4, as the trial court held6

Ruling:

The accident is to be attributed to the failure of 7eyden #foreman$ to e+ercise the degree of care
which an ordinarily competent andprudent person would have e+hibited under the circumstances
which then confronted him% This conclusion of fact cannot berefuted1 and, indeed, no attempt is
here made by the appellant to reverse this "nding of the trial court%3t will be observed that a
contractual relation e+isted between the Railroad Company and the Steamship Company1 and the
dutiesof the latter with respect to the carrying and delivery of the boilers are to be discovered by
considering the terms and legal e4ect of that contract%

A contractual relation also existed between the Steamship Compan and the Atlantic Compan
1 and theduties owing by the latter to the former with respect to the lifting and the transferring of
the boilers are li)ewise to be discoveredby considering the terms and legal e4ect of the contract
between these parties

! "n the other hand# no contractual relationexisted directl between the Railroad Compan and
the Atlantic Compan !

8nder the contract for transportation from ngland to Manila, the Steamship Company is liable to
the plainti4 for the in*ury done tothe boiler while it was being discharged from the ship under
articles 559. and 559/ of the Civil Code, for the consequences of theomission of the care necessary
to the proper performance of its obligation% The contract to transport and deliver at the port
of Manila a locomotive boiler, which was received by it in proper condition, is not complied with by
delivery at the port of destinationof a mass of iron the utility of which had been
destroyed% The Steamship Company cannot escape liability by reason of the fact that it employed a
competent independent contractor todischarge the boilers%%