Admiralty and Maritime Law

The Law Office of Scott A Nelson, PC represents injured maritime workers. Because of the complexity of Admiralty and Maritime Law, it is important to answer the following:

What is the Jones Act?
Who is a seaman?
What is maintenance and cure?
What damages are covered under the Jones Act?
What is unseaworthiness?
What is the Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA)?

What is the Jones Act?

The Jones Act was enacted by Congress to provide protection to persons who are members of the crew of a ship or vessel. The Jones Act applies to inland river workers and offshore crew members who work on jack-ups, semi-submersibles, barges, drill ships, tugs and towboats, crew boats, dredges, floating cranes, tankers, cargo ships, fishing vessels, shrimp boats, trawlers, chemical ships, research vessels, construction barges, diving vessels, cruise ships, recreational boats, and other floating or movable vessels.

An employer owes a seaman a higher duty of care under the Jones Act than an ordinary negligence case, and the employer can be liable if its breach of that duty, no matter how small, contributed in any way to causing the seaman's injury. In order for a worker to recover under the Jones Act, a worker must prove some negligence or fault on the part of the vessel's owners, operators, officers, and/or fellow employees or by reason of any defect in the vessel, its gear, tackle, or equipment. The Jones Act also provides an injured seaman a remedy against his or her employers for injuries arising from negligent acts of co-workers during the course of employment on a ship or vessel.

A Jones Act claim must generally be brought within three years of the injury. An injured worker's maritime claim under the Jones Act can also raise claims against a vessel's owner that a dangerous condition existed on the vessel that made the vessel unseaworthy.

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Who is a seaman?

Only a "seaman" can recover under the Jones Act. A seaman must be a member of the crew of a vessel.

There are three general requirements for seaman status:

1. the person has an employment connection to the vessel that is substantial both in terms of duration and its nature; and
2. the person's employment contributes to the work of the vessel;
3. the vessel must be engaged as an instrument of commerce and transportation on navigable waters.

For example, people who serve on freighters, tugboats, crew boats, tankers, jack-up rigs, semi-submersibles, supply boats, lay barges, barges, fishing boats, shrimp boats and crew boats who are members of the crew are considered to be seamen under the Jones Act. Longshoremen, pilots, and those who work on fixed platforms are not normally classified as seamen, but may have other maritime remedies available to them.

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What is maintenance and cure?

If a seaman becomes injured on a vessel, regardless of the fault of the vessel or its operators, he is entitled to "maintenance" and "cure". Maintenance is designed to provide the ill or injured seaman with compensation sufficient to pay for care, including lodging expenses. The amount of maintenance to which the seaman is entitled is a factual question, but is often said to be in replacement of the cost to the employer of the food and lodging of the seaman while he was aboard a vessel. Maintenance rates generally range from $15 to $40 per day.

Cure is the obligation of the seaman's employer to provide medical treatment, prescription drugs, nursing services, hospitalization and rehabilitation until the seaman reaches maximum medical improvement. A seaman has the right to select his own physicians and method of treatment. Maximum medical improvement means that the seaman's condition will not improve any further or he is permanently disabled. When a seaman reaches maximum medical improvement, the vessel owner's obligation to pay maintenance and cure ceases, regardless of whether the seaman can return to work or not.

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What damages are covered under the Jones Act?

An injured worker under the Jones Act may recover the following legal damages:

• Wages lost from the time of the injury to the time of trial;
  
  
• Wage loss in the future (often due to loss of earning capacity);
  
  
• Medical expenses in the past;
  
  
• Medical expenses in the future;
  
  
• Pain and suffering in the past and future;
  
  
• Mental anguish in the past and in the future; and
  
  
• Physical disfigurement.

If an injury causes the death of a seaman, the surviving widow or husband and children of the employee become the beneficiaries under the Jones Act. If the worker does not have a spouse or children, then the beneficiaries include the employee's parents. A personal representative such as an executor is entitled to bring an action that the worker (had he lived) would have possessed against his employer. The worker's cause of action against the employer does not die with the worker. In a death cases, damages go to the seaman's survivors.

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What is unseaworthiness?

An unseaworthiness claim is filed against a vessel's owner, who is sometimes also the seaman's employer. A vessel owner owes seaman a strict and absolute duty to provide a seaworthy vessel. A seaworthy vessel should be equipped with appropriate safety gear and equipment, safe recreation facilities, and a competent crew. The warranty of seaworthiness extends to all parts of the vessel, including the hull, appliances, gear and equipment, even the vessel's crew.

For example, a vessel is unseaworthy if a piece of equipment breaks or is inoperable, the vessel's crew is too small, incomplete or not adequately trained, or a condition such as oil, grease or rust exists where it is not intended to exist and the unseaworthy condition is a direct cause of injury to the seaman. In other words, negligence focuses on acts of the seaman's employer, and unseaworthiness focuses on the condition or inadequacy of the vessel itself. An unseaworthiness claim must be filed within three years of the date of the injury, and must be combined with a Jones Act claim.

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What is the Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA)?

The Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA) was originally passed in 1920 to make it easier for widows of seamen to recover damages for future earnings when death occurs in international waters. When a seaman dies as a result of an employer's negligence or because of an unseaworthy vessel, the worker's family may file for benefits under this Act. The incident must occur on the high seas beyond a marine league (three miles) from the shore of any state, the District of Columbia, or U.S. territory or dependency. The decendent's wife, husband, parent, child or dependent relative may file the claim.

A plaintiff usually receives damages for pecuniary loss caused by the loss of the deceased seaman's services. A DOHSA suit must commence within three years from the date of the seaman's death.

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If you are a seaman or maritime worker and have been injured on the job, you may be entitled to valuable benefits. Call Scott A. Nelson today for a free consultation at 1-877-OCEANLAW or contact us via email.