| Maritime & Offshore Injury |
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If you were recently injured while working on or near a vessel or while offshore and would like to communicate with an attorney free of charge, you may
e-mail an attorney about your potential case. You can also call us toll-free at 1-800-7500-LAW or 1-800-750-0529 and have a free telephone consultation or schedule a free in-person consultation with an attorney.
Maritime and offshore work can be risky business. Such workers can be injured or killed while engaged in oil and gas exploration or production and related activities. Several laws provide rights and remedies to different types of maritime and offshore workers. It is important to have an attorney familiar with maritime and offshore law explain all of your options. The Jones Act, for example, extends the protections of the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA), to provide similar rights and remedies to seamen. FELA provides certain federal workers specific rights and remedies when injured in connection with their employment.
The Jones Act applies only to seamen who are persons with an employment-related connection to a vessel in navigation and who contribute to the vessel's function or mission. Under the Jones Act, the concept of a vessel is broadly defined, including all navigable structures intended for transportation on water. The Jones Act enables recovery for both economic and non-economic damages resulting from covered injuries. Examples of economic damages are your medical bills, lost wages, loss of support and other identifiable economic injuries. Non-economic injuries include mental anguish, pain and suffering, loss of love and affection and other such damages.
An injured seamen is entitled to specific remedies under the General Maritime Law (GML) which include maintenance, a daily amount of money for subsistence, and cure, medical care sufficient to bring the injured to maximum medical improvement. GML also requires an injured seamen be provided unearned wages to the end of the voyage or employment contract and a return trip to the injured seaman's home port in the event he is injured overseas. GML also enables assertion of unseaworthiness claim based on the breach of the warranty of seaworthiness. This warranty is a mandatory duty imposed on a vessel owner or operator to provide a vessel which is reasonably fit for its intended voyage.
The Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA) provides workers' compensation benefits to maritime workers who are not seamen. These benefits are provided regardless of whether the employer is at fault and include disability payments and rehabilitation services. Injuries that occur in maritime employment on navigable waters of the United States fall under the purview of the LHWCA.
If you were recently injured while working on or near a vessel or while offshore and would like to communicate with an attorney, you may e-mail an attorney about your potential case. You can also call us toll-free at 1-800-7500-LAW or 1-800-750-0529 and have a free telephone consultation or schedule a free in-person consultation with an attorney. If you are ever involved in an accident while on water or offshore, consider the following advice:
- Do not move if you think you might be hurt unless you are in immediate danger. Get help from your co-employees and supervisor.
- Demand medical care if you think you might be injured.
- Report the accident fully to your supervisor explaining what happened and how you were injured.
- Try to obtain the names and phone numbers of potential witnesses.
- Read any documents given to you for signature very carefully. If you don't understand something in the document you are asked to sign, you may want to have an attorney review it first.
