Clapper, Patti, Schweizer and Mason

American President Lines, Ltd. (APL)  was incorporated in Delaware in 1929.  Since that time, APL has been engaged in the ownership and operation of ships.  APL’s ships were named after U.S. Presidents.  APL’s original business was ocean liner transport of passengers to Asia and other destinations around the world. 

During World War II, APL’s ships were taken over by the War Shipping Administration for the purpose of troop and cargo transport.  In the 1950s, APL’s ships were increasingly used for cargo shipment, and less for passenger transport.  Passenger service was discontinued in the early 1970s.   

Most of APL’s ships built between the 1940s and 1970s were steamed powered.  High pressure steam, generated by boilers located in the boiler rooms of the ships, was used to turn geared turbines located in the engine rooms of the ships, which drove the propellers (known as screws) and propelled the ships forward. 

Between the 1940s and late 1970s, various asbestos-containing materials were used in the construction and repair of APL’s ships, including boiler insulation, refractory mortar, pipe insulation, cloth, cement, packing, gaskets and flooring materials.  These products were handled, removed and installed in the boiler rooms, engine rooms and machinery spaces of the ships by the ships’ crew and shipyard workers.  Workers who handled these materials were exposed to unsafe levels of asbestos on the ships during their daily occupational duties. 

Exposure to asbestos can cause asbestos-related diseases including mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis.  Workers injured by exposures to asbestos on APL’s ships may have rights under the Jones Act (46 U.S.C. sections 688, et seq.), or the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act ( 33 U.S.C. sections 901, et seq.)