Injured Seamen: Understanding Your Rights Under Maritime Law

When they think about accidents at sea, many people think of the TV or newspaper stories of passengers on large cruise ships who are injured because of a slip and fall accident or become sick from food poisoning. While it is certainly true that many cruise ship passengers are injured every year during their cruise ship vacations, there is another class of people injured at sea which generally receives little media publicity.

This class consists of the seamen or sea workers who are injured while performing the duties of their job. Sea workers include employees of both luxurious cruise ships and cargo ships. The life of a seaworker may at first blush seem adventurous and glamorous. In reality, a ship, being in motion, and subject to the vagaries of storms and other dangers at sea, is a dangerous working environment. Moreover, a seriously injured seaworker may not be able to obtain immediate medical attention if the ship is hundreds of miles away from a port with suitable medical care facilities.

Seamen who are injured aboard ship generally have three possible sources of compensation for their injuries: The Doctrine of Unseaworthiness of the Vessel, the Jones Act, and the Principle of Maintenance of Cure. For cases where a seaman is killed while in the performance of his duties, the seaman’s family may also seek damages under the Death on the High Seas Act.

This blog posting will discuss the Doctrine of Unseaworthiness and succeeding blogs will cover the Jones Act, the Principle of Maintenance of Cure, and recent case law. It should be emphasized that an injured seaman has an absolute right to maintenance and cure under Maritime law, quite apart from any lawsuit which he or she may bring for personal injury brought under the Jones Act and/or the Doctrine of Unseaworthiness.

Maritime law is a complex area of the law. An injured seaman or maritime worker should consider seeking out an experienced maritime law attorney before settling any claim with his employer. Otherwise the injured worker may never obtain the compensation he may well be entitled to given the facts of his case and the extent of his injuries.

The Doctrine of Unseaworthiness of the Vessel

A seaman has the right to work on a seaworthy vessel. Or, put another way, the owner of a vessel which employs seamen has an absolute duty to provide sea workers with a seaworthy vessel.

Seaworthiness is a condition that can change given the environment the ship may encounter while at sea. For example, a ship may be mechanically and structurally fit for its intended use when it leaves port, be adequately equipped with navigational equipment, and have appropriate safety gear on board. Yet this same vessel could become unseaworthy because of dangers that may arise, become known, or should have become known at sea.

For instance, some crucial navigational instrumentation may become damaged a few days out and be repairable only back at port. If the captain does not turn back and a seaman is injured because of the captain’s failure to recognize that his ship has become unseaworthy, the company which owns the ship could be held liable for the injured seaman’s injuries under the Doctrine of Unseaworthiness (and possibly negligence under the Jones Act as well.).

Please stay tuned for Part II.