Admiralty and Maritime Claims

Rights of Injured Crew Members

A crewmember injured or killed in the service if a vessel is protected by rights established by court decisions, federal law and the employment contract.

Maintenance and Cure

An injured crewmember is entitled to "maintenance and cure" for injury or illness suffered in the service of the vessel. Although the terms maintenance and cure are commonly used together, they represent separate benefits.

Maintenance is a living allowance, or the money paid to the crewmember for food and lodging during time off work for the treatment of the illness or injury. Until recent times, courts generally awarded maintenance of about $8 per day. This amount is inadequate to sustain a person, and the amount of maintenance payments is not often set by the employment contract. In the Pacific Northwest, these contractual provisions for maintenance cover quite a range: $27 per day in one contract; four hours straight-time pay in another. One local contract combines maintenance and cure at $48 per day. Where there is no agreed rate, the court decides the amount of maintenance at trial.

Cure is a crewmember's right to hospital, doctor, nursing, and other medical treatment for injuries and illnesses suffered in the service of the vessel. Whether a particular injury or illness was incurred in the ship's service has generally been answered by the courts in favor of the crewmembers. In one famous case, a seaman, while ashore on leave from a vessel at Naples, drank some wine and fell from a balcony adjacent to a dance hall. The United States Supreme Court ruled that he was entitled to maintenance. The Supreme Court quoted from another of its decisions: "Men cannot live for long cooped up aboard ship, without substantial impairment of their efficiency, if not also serious danger to discipline. Relation beyond the confines of the ships is necessary if the work is to go on, ore so that it may move smoothly."

A benefit related to maintenance and cure is LOST WAGES until the end of the voyage. An injured crewmember is entitled to all of the wages that would have been earned during the full voyage. Entitlement to maintenance and cure, and wages to the end of the voyage, is not based upon the employer or ship owner's fault. The law protects the injured crewmember from illness and injury suffered in the service of the vessel. The right to cure continues until the crewmember has reached maximum medical improvement. The right to maintenance generally lasts for that long as well, if the crewmember remains unable to return to work.

The Jones Act and the Warranty of Seaworthiness

Congress passed the Jones Act in 1920. This law provides a crewmember with damages from the employer for injuries resulting from the negligence of the employer or a fellow employee. The Jones Act incorporates the provisions of the Federal Employers Liability Act, which protects railroad workers.

In addition to the duty owed under the Jones Act by employers to exercise due care, every vessel owner or operator owes a duty to maintain the vessel and its equipment in a seaworthy condition at all times. To be in a "seaworthy condition", a vessel and it gear must be in a condition reasonably fit for their intended use. While liability under the Jones Act is based upon negligence or fault on the part of the employer, liability for an unseaworthy condition does not depend upon negligence, fault or blame. Even if the ship owner or operator exercised the highest degree of care, it is liable for an injury or death caused by an unseaworthy condition. This is true even if the ship owner is unaware of the condition, or even if the unseaworthy condition is only temporary.

If an employer's negligence or a vessel's unseaworthy condition contributed to an injury, the crewmember's claim is not defeated by the fact that he or she may have been negligent. The amount of the recovery is, however, reduced in proportion to the crewmember's own negligence. A crewmember's claim can not be defeated because he o she assumed the risks of employment, no mater how hazardous.

Knowledge is Power

Crew members injured on board vessels or in the service of vessels often are not aware that the harm was caused by the negligence of the employer, or a fellow employee, or by an unseaworthy condition. Injuries frequently result from doing something "the way it has always been done" or from a longstanding condition of the vessel, such as a bent ladder or poorly maintained winch. The crewmember may nonetheless have a valid claim against the employer and vessel owner. Anyone who suffers an injury or illness while employed in the service of a vessel should consult an attorney experienced in maritime cases.

When a crewmember suffers a serious injury on board a vessel, employers or their insurance companies routinely call upon their claims representatives and attorneys who are experienced in handling maritime cases -- to investigate the cause of the injury, gather evidence, and prepare to defeat or defend the claim. The injured person is at a disadvantage if he or she does not have representation at an early stage. Strict time limits apply within which an action must be brought in court or the right to do so is forever lost. It is essential that injured crewmembers be represented by competent counsel to safeguard their rights.

Over the years, I have had the opportunity to serve and help many longshoremen, seafarers, deckhands, fishermen, shipyard workers, other maritime workers, and recreational boaters receive deserving compensation for maritime injuries and wrongful deaths.