Request medical care from the vessel’s captain or platform supervisor immediately after the injury. Under maritime law, your employer has a duty to provide prompt medical treatment — this is part of the maintenance and cure obligation. Seek additional medical care onshore as soon as you return to port. Do not let your employer minimize your injuries or pressure you to return to work before you are medically cleared.

Report your injury to the vessel’s captain, platform supervisor, or your employer in writing as soon as possible. Document the date, time, location, how the injury occurred, and any witnesses. Request a copy of the incident report. Maritime employers are required to document injuries — but their reports are written to protect the company, not you. Your written account of what happened is essential.

Photograph the location where the injury occurred, the equipment or condition that caused it, any safety deficiencies, and all visible injuries. Take photos of your injuries over the following days as they develop. Maritime accident scenes — whether on a vessel, platform, or dock — are often cleaned up or modified quickly. Your photos may be the only independent record of the conditions at the time of the accident.

Get the names and contact information of any coworkers or others who witnessed the accident or who are aware of the hazardous condition that caused it. Maritime workers rotate between vessels and locations — witnesses can become difficult to locate quickly. Get their information before the crew changes or the vessel moves.

Do not sign any documents presented by your employer, the vessel owner, or their insurance company without first speaking with a maritime attorney. This includes medical authorization forms, recorded statement requests, settlement offers, or releases of any kind. Maritime employers and their insurers move quickly to obtain statements and signatures from injured workers while they are still in shock or in pain — anything you sign can and will be used to limit your recovery.

If you are a Jones Act seaman, you are entitled to maintenance and cure from your employer regardless of fault. Maintenance is a daily living allowance while you are unable to work. Cure is payment for all reasonable and necessary medical treatment until you reach maximum medical improvement. Your employer cannot legally terminate these obligations before you have reached that point. If your employer is failing to pay maintenance and cure, notify your attorney immediately — willful failure to pay can result in additional damages.

Maritime injury cases involve federal law, strict statutes of limitations, and companies with experienced defense teams. The Jones Act has a three-year statute of limitations, but other maritime claims — including unseaworthiness and LHWCA claims — have different deadlines. Evidence on vessels and platforms disappears fast. Contact an attorney as soon as possible to protect your rights and preserve the evidence that supports your claim.

The Jones Act provides seamen — workers who spend a significant portion of their time working on a vessel in navigation — the right to sue their employer for negligence. Unlike standard workers’ compensation, a Jones Act claim allows recovery for pain and suffering, full lost wages, future earning capacity, and all medical expenses. To qualify as a seaman under the Jones Act, you must be assigned to a specific vessel or fleet of vessels and contribute to the mission of the vessel. Statute of limitations: three years from the date of injury.

In addition to a Jones Act negligence claim, seamen may also have a claim for unseaworthiness — a separate maritime doctrine that holds vessel owners strictly liable when the vessel or its equipment is not reasonably fit for its intended purpose. Unlike negligence, you do not have to prove the vessel owner knew about the defective condition. If the condition existed and it caused your injury, liability may attach. Unseaworthiness claims run parallel to Jones Act claims and can significantly increase your recovery.

Every Jones Act seaman is entitled to maintenance and cure from their employer when injured in the service of the vessel — regardless of who caused the accident. Maintenance is a daily living allowance (typically $35–$45 per day under most contracts, though courts have sometimes awarded higher amounts). Cure covers all reasonable medical treatment until maximum medical improvement is reached. Employers who willfully fail to pay maintenance and cure can be held liable for additional punitive damages and attorney’s fees.

If you are not a Jones Act seaman — for example, if you are a dockworker, longshoreman, harbor worker, or someone who works on fixed platforms — you may be covered by the LHWCA instead. The LHWCA is a federal workers’ compensation system that provides medical benefits and wage replacement, but unlike the Jones Act, it does not allow recovery for pain and suffering. LHWCA claims must be filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. Third-party claims against vessel owners may still be available.

Workers injured on fixed offshore platforms on the Outer Continental Shelf — such as oil production platforms — may be covered by the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which extends the LHWCA to those locations. Determining which law applies to your specific situation requires an attorney with maritime law experience.

Vessel decks and offshore platform surfaces are frequently wet, oily, or slippery. Falls can cause spinal injuries, traumatic brain injuries, broken bones, and torn ligaments. A vessel owner’s failure to maintain safe deck conditions can support both a Jones Act negligence claim and an unseaworthiness claim.

Cranes, winches, and heavy rigging equipment on vessels and platforms can fail catastrophically. Equipment failures, operator error, and inadequate maintenance all create liability. These incidents frequently cause crush injuries, amputations, and fatalities.

Fires and explosions on oil platforms and vessels are among the most catastrophic offshore accidents. They can cause severe burns, blast injuries, and death. These incidents typically involve safety violations, equipment failure, or failure to follow proper procedures — all of which support negligence and unseaworthiness claims.

Workers on vessels and platforms face the constant risk of being struck by unsecured tools, equipment, or cargo. A vessel owner’s failure to secure equipment and maintain a safe working environment is a basis for both negligence and unseaworthiness claims.

Long rotations on vessels with physically demanding work can cause cumulative injuries — including back damage, joint injuries, and repetitive stress conditions. These injuries are covered under Jones Act maintenance and cure and may support a negligence claim if unreasonable work demands contributed to the injury.

To qualify as a seaman under the Jones Act, you must have a substantial employment-related connection to a specific vessel or identifiable group of vessels under common ownership, and you must contribute to the function of the vessel or the accomplishment of its mission. The determination is fact-specific and not always obvious. Workers who split time between land and vessel operations, or who work on multiple vessels, may or may not qualify. An attorney can evaluate your situation and determine which maritime remedies apply to you.

Standard workers’ compensation provides medical benefits and limited wage replacement regardless of fault, but does not allow recovery for pain and suffering. The Jones Act requires you to prove employer negligence, but if successful, allows recovery for full lost wages, future earning capacity, pain and suffering, and all medical expenses. Maritime claims typically result in significantly larger recoveries than standard workers’ comp for serious injuries.

The Jones Act has a three-year statute of limitations from the date of injury. However, unseaworthiness claims and maintenance and cure disputes have different timelines, and LHWCA claims have their own filing requirements. Some claims must be filed with federal agencies before a lawsuit can proceed. Do not wait — contact an attorney as soon as possible after the injury.

Offshore employers and vessel owners frequently dispute seaman status to limit their liability. Whether you qualify as a seaman is a legal question that courts have addressed in numerous cases, and the determination is fact-specific. Do not take your employer’s word for it — get an independent legal evaluation of your status and your rights before accepting any classification or settlement.

Maintenance is a daily living allowance your employer must pay while you are unable to work due to a vessel-related injury — typically covering housing and food costs. Cure covers all reasonable and necessary medical treatment until you reach maximum medical improvement (MMI). Contract amounts for maintenance are often set low — but courts have the authority to award higher amounts based on your actual living expenses. If your employer is paying below your actual costs or has cut off maintenance and cure prematurely, an attorney can challenge that.

A successful Jones Act claim can recover past and future medical expenses, past and future lost wages, reduced earning capacity, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life. In cases involving willful or wanton conduct by the employer, punitive damages may also be available. Combined with an unseaworthiness claim, the total recovery in a serious maritime injury case can be substantial.

Nothing upfront. Mansfield Melancon handles offshore and Jones Act injury cases on a contingency fee basis — you pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you. If we win your case or reach a settlement, you pay an agreed percentage of the recovery. If we do not win, you owe us nothing.