Some difficulties you face in a case subject to admiralty/maritime law

Our Galveston maritime injury lawyers point out that admiralty law (also called maritime law) constitutes an extremely specially, highly complex field of law.

• Admiralty law continues to evolve at a fast pace under increasing pressures from new technologies, trading patterns, resource competition, and other issues that affect our use of and travel on the seas.
• The body of admiralty law and practice varies widely between jurisdictions. If you suffered a maritime injury, you might be confused as to whether your case is subject to U.S. admiralty law, the international law of the seas, or some other body of maritime law. A skilled maritime lawyer with thorough legal knowledge of the field could examine your case and help you identify the governing laws as well as liable parties for your injury.
• Only a small percentage of lawyers ever have any contact with admiralty law and issues in their careers. Maritime issues can be so tangled and complex that you need a lawyer with practical experience and in-depth knowledge of admiralty law to effectively handle your case.
• The U.S. federal courts have jurisdiction over U.S. admiralty issues, so the lawyer you hire for your admiralty case must argue your case in federal court rather than in the local courts to which most attorneys are more accustomed.

To win an admiralty/maritime injury claim, you need an adept Galveston maritime injury lawyer on your side. Your lawyer needs to have the practical experience of admiralty law and in-depth knowledge of maritime issues to successfully address the complexities of your case so that you could win your claim.

At Denena & Points, we’ve been handling complicated maritime accident claims for more than a decade. Our Galveston maritime injury lawyers have the knowledge and experience you need to successfully make your case. Contact us today for your free and confidential legal consultation.

Cruise ship passenger safety policies changing after Costa Concordia disaster

Our maritime injury lawyers point out hat cruise ship bookings have dropped off precipitously since the Costa Concordia disaster left 16 people dead and 16 others still missing. The cruise industry, alarmed by the results of the cruise ship crash, has begun reviewing and revising existing policies regarding passenger safety.

In May, The International Maritime Organization Maritime Safety Committee conference in May 2012 will focus on cruise ship safety concerns. Among the issues to be addressed are:

• Qualification and training of crews, particularly in relation to their communication with passengers.
• The adequacy of current stability rules for ships damaged or exposed to poor weather conditions.
• The possible need to adapt prevailing safety standards to keep up with new technical developments in engine type, materials, and design.
• Ways to ensure that passenger lists are accurate and up to date.
• Plans and procedures for evacuation.
• The possible expansion of safety standards to other types of ships offering domestic voyages (such as historical ships and sailing ships).

The Maritime Safety Committee will propose new rules and standards based on the information and decisions reached in the May conference.

Already, three major cruise industry bodies, including the largest in North America, have announced some mandatory changes to cruise ship passenger safety procedure. These three industry organizations have announced that cruise ships must conduct safety “muster” drills before leaving port. Previously, the ships were allowed to conduct the drills within 24 hours of leaving port. Passengers who board after the musters have already taken place should receive prompt individual or group attention to acquaint them with safety procedures.

The new policy could be a step forward in safety. The Costa Concordia went down less than 24 hours after leaving port. About 600 of her over 3,000 passengers had not participated in safety drills when the disaster occurred. Inquiries are underway to determine whether this lack of safety drilling played a significant role in the chaotic evacuation and outcome of the disaster.

Our maritime injury lawyers caution that safety drills only ensure one aspect of your safety. Deficiencies still remain in the rapidity with which a major cruise ship evacuation can happen and in means to ensure that lifeboats remain available and undamaged until all passengers and crew are able to evacuate a sinking vessel.

If you’re injured at sea or you lose a loved one to an unforeseen maritime disaster, contact our maritime injury lawyers for a free and confidential legal consultation about the accident. We understand the trauma and disorientation you experience after an accident at sea. Our concern is to help you understand all of your legal options in addressing the injury and obtaining the financial compensation you deserve for the harm you’ve suffered. Reach our maritime injury lawyers toll free at 877-307-9500 or at your convenience through our online contact form to schedule your free consultation.

Cruise ship Concordia meets its own Scylla & Charybdis at Giglio

Our Galveston maritime accident attorneys note that the considerable dangers of navigating along the coasts and among the islands of the Mediterranean Sea have been known from ancient times. Scylla and Charybdis, which personified the very essence of difficult navigation in ancient Greek legend, were off the Italian coast. More properly, these navigation hazards lie in the Strait of Messina off of Sicily.

Giglio Island, off of which the cruise ship Concordia met its fate, rises from the Tyrrhenian Sea not far from the Isle of Elba, famous as Napoleon’s place of exile. The Tyrrhenian Sea lies near the intersection of the European and African tectonic plates. Interaction between the plates has generated active volcanoes and mountain ranges beneath the Sea. The coast is noted for its navigational challenges and rocky hazards.

For these reasons, the ancient Romans had access to very few natural ports along the coast of Italy. Some of their renowned engineering skill developed in efforts to excavate, enlarge, and create ports both natural and artificial.

The Tyrrhenian Sea was named for Prince Tyrrhenus, leader of the Etruscans in Greek legend. The sea was also known as the Etruscan Sea. Because of the many dangers presented by submerged rocks, reefs, mountains, volcanoes, and even shipwrecks, the Sea and its coastal waters have been extensively mapped over and over again. Seasoned navigators of these waters know the danger spots. Or at least they should. The Concordia captain’s claim of ignorance defies belief. Surely such ignorance in the captain of a large cruise ship that regularly plied these waters could be criminal.

Witnesses to the last cruise of the Concordia state that the captain was “showing off” when he steered the ship into the rocks that caused its demise through an extensive gash in the hull. Residents of Giglio, many of them experienced seamen and some of them captains of their own vessels, maintain that the captain was foolhardy in attempting to thread such a whale of a vessel through such a narrow passage between the rocks. They say that the ship was too big for that close-in passage and that some former captains used to take the ship close enough to shore to constitute a nautical salute of sorts to the island. But they say that these other captains never went nearly so close as the man who captained the Concordia on the day of its sinking.

The antics of the captain of the Concordia in bringing the massive cruise ship in so close to the Giglio shoreline at speed cannot be excused. The act was beyond foolhardy and almost guaranteed to bring about disaster. His shocking lack of judgment and failure to observe nautical precedent in many ways cost several passengers and crewmembers their lives, endangered thousands of others, stretched the resources of the tiny shore towns who succored refugees, and cost the Costa cruise line its largest and most luxurious vessel.

News accounts of the tragedy haven’t mentioned a blood toxicology test on the captain, but our Galveston maritime accident attorneys wonder if one might not be ordered for this incident. The sheer magnitude of this hazard taken by an experienced captain seems almost inexplicable under ordinary conditions.

If you’ve been injured or lost a loved one at sea, feel free to contact our Galveston maritime accident attorneys with your questions. We offer a free consultation to discuss your case. If you have questions; we have answers.

What does a coastal navigation chart look like? Does it show reefs?

Take a look at this picture of a typical coastal navigational chart. Our Galveston maritime accident lawyers point out that you can see reefs, rocky outcroppings, submerged mountains, and variations in depths clearly marked. You can obtain much more detailed navigational maps showing shipping lanes, buoys, currents, and all the minutiae a skilled and responsible navigator needs to know to guide a ship through coastal waters.

Map vendors, GPS services, government agencies, and other services all provide navigational aids for the sea-faring traveler. Cruise ships belonging to major cruise lines might be expected to have some of the latest navigational technology and state-of-the-art coastal navigation charts.

Reading these detailed navigational charts and using state-of-the-art navigational technologies requires some skill. Modern captains are trained and tested in the techniques of their trade. Most captains generally don’t achieve their high rank until after years of proven responsible service in lower positions.

So what led the captain of the Concordia, who likely had reliable navigational charts of the Tyrrhenian Sea, a bridge full of seasoned crewmembers, and his own years of experience to guide him, to abandon all caution and steer the ship far too close to a rocky shore? That remains something of a puzzle.

The captain’s ill-advised and shocking “show off” maneuver caused a deadly disaster. Old sea hands from the area of the disaster said the captain steered the massive cruise ship Concordia far too close to Giglio’s shore into a passage between the rocks that was far too narrow for such a huge ship. He should have known better from his own experience with that ship in those waters.

If you’ve been the victim of a captain’s negligence and suffered injury at sea, contact our Galveston maritime accident lawyers for a free consultation. We could explain your legal options regarding a recovery of compensation for your injury. We’ll help you protect your legal rights after another’s negligence has caused you harm. Call 877-307-9500 or use our web contact form. We’re here to help.

What you can do after you’ve been hurt in a Galveston cargo accident

The Galveston – Houston area represents one of the nation’s major shipping hubs. Our Galveston maritime lawyers see a huge amount of shipping cargo move in and out of our Ports each day. The sheer quantity of shipping cargo and the tendency of shippers to under-declare shipping weights create many opportunities for dangerous Galveston cargo accidents to occur.

Galveston maritime lawyers remind you that cargo accidents can cause catastrophic injuries or fatalities among ships’ crewmembers, dockworkers, and others who happen to be in the vicinity of heavy cargo. Recovering just financial compensation for the resulting harm is a critical element in helping victims and their families to cope with the trauma of these serious cargo accidents.

These dangerous and deadly cargo accidents might happen for several reasons.

• Structurally unsound shipping containers.
• Excess, undeclared cargo weights.
• Improper securing of cargo.

If the cargo accident is due to another person’s negligence, you might be eligible to make a fair financial recovery for your expenses and losses from the accident. At Denena & Points, our Board Certified injury attorneys have been handling maritime injury cases and helping victims recover just compensation for their losses for more than 12 years.

Our Galveston maritime lawyers have experience with Jones Act and LHWCA claims. We could explain your legal options and the steps you need to take to make a proper financial recovery on your claim.

Contact our Galveston maritime lawyers through our website or call us toll free at 877-307-9500 for a free and confidential legal consultation. We could protect your legal rights and aggressively prosecute your claim through every step of the legal process, including third party and workers’ compensation claims, until you obtain the just resolution that your case deserves.

The Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) at a Glance

Who is covered by the LHWCA?

The LHWCA covers land-based workers employed within the maritime industry. These covered workers include the following.

• Longshoremen
• Dockworkers
• Shipbuilders
• Mechanics
• Maintenance workers
• Ship’s cargo loaders and unloaders

The U.S. Defense Base Act has extended the LHWCA to also cover workers on the outer continental shelf and U.S. government contractors working abroad.

What places of employment are covered?

Employees covered under the LHWCA, or “Longshore Act” are considered land-based maritime workers. They might still serve on navigable waters such as rivers, canals, or the inland waterway. They might also work on the adjacent lands or adjoining areas customarily used to load, unload, build, or repair a vessel. These areas include those listed below.

• Dry docks
• Docks
• Piers
• Terminals
• Marine railways
• Marine buildingways

What benefits does the LHWCA coverage provide?

Like other workers’ compensation schemes, the LHWCA provides a “no fault” claims system. This means that the injured or ill worker receives benefits for his harm regardless of whether any employer negligence caused it. The employer can be entirely free of blame, but the injured worker will still receive help under the statute.

The “no fault” provisions take a lot of the pressure off of the injured workers and help them attain the medical relief they need to recover from their illnesses or personal injuries. LHWCA workers’ compensation benefits can include the following.

• Medical benefits for diseases caused by the maritime employment.
• Rehabilitation after an injury or disease condition.
• Medical and disability payments for an injured worker.
• Death benefits for dependent family members who received fatal injuries on the job.

What are the time limits for filing a claim?

As with other workers’ compensation statutes, the LHWCA provides that an injured worker must make timely notification to the employer of the injury in order to receive benefits. The worker must notify the employer within 30 days after the maritime injury occurred.

The worker also must file the formal claim for LHWCA benefits within one year of the date of the injury. So time is an important factor for any maritime worker considering making a claim under the LHWCA. The statutes of limitations don’t give you much time to “think about it.” You have to act quickly to ensure your benefits. Contact our Galveston maritime lawyers for a free and confidential legal consultation. We could help put you on the right track to your benefits recovery.

When does a worker benefit under the Jones Act & when does LHWCA apply?

WHERE do the ACts apply?
In some cases where a worker dies or suffers injuries while working on land, the Jones Act might cover that worker. In other cases, the LHWCA (Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act) might apply to the resulting claim. The lands covered by both Acts include piers, terminals, wharves, docks, marine railways, building ways, and such adjacent lands that are normally used by an employer for the following types of activities.

• Loading or unloading goods shipped over navigable waters.
• Repairing a vessel used for transport in navigable waters.
• Building a vessel used on navigable waters.

The definition of “vessel” has been carefully addressed in case law over the years and we will discuss the broad definition of vessel at some point. But for the moment, we’ll focus on another area that’s received extensive attention in case law over the years: the definition of “seaman” for the purposes of the Jones Act.

WHO do the Acts cover?
The Jones Act covers an injured seaman, even if his injuries are suffered while he’s working on the adjacent lands to the water. Longshoremen and other harbor workers would seek redress through the LHWCA.

The Jones Act provides remedies based in tort actions (actions based on the negligence of another party) to maritime workers whose employment is based on the water. The LHWCA provides workers compensation remedies to maritime industry employees whose employment is based on the adjacent lands.

Sometimes land-based workers have tried to seek redress through the Jones Act. A Jones Act tort action can result in larger monetary awards, but actually collecting that money can often be challenging for various reasons. The award you could receive in an LHWCA workers’ compensation claim is limited by statute, but on the other hand you are almost certain to receive those monies.

Defining a “seaman” for purposes of the Jones Act:
A 2002 case, Hara v. Weeks Marine, helped clarify who can look to the Jones Act for remedies. Under the ruling in that case, a “seaman”

1. Has an “employment-related connection”

2. To a “vessel in navigation.”

The “employment-related connection” to the vessel on navigable waters exists where

1. The “worker’s duties …contribute to the function of the vessel or to the accomplishment of its mission” and

2. The worker’s employment connection to the vessel is “substantial in both its duration and its nature.”

“Substantial” has been interpreted to mean that the worker spends at least 30% of the time on navigable waters for the vessel.

Making a claim under the LHWCA:
The LHWCA covers maritime workers who don’t meet the definition of “seaman.” When a land-based worker’s injuries result from injuries suffered on the navigable waters of the United States (including the adjacent lands mentioned above), the worker makes a claim under the LHWCA. To be eligible for the LHWCA claim, the worker must

1. Be a worker covered by the LHWCA. (For instance, someone not from the maritime industry would not be covered under the LHWCA just because his or her injury happened to occur on a ship or a dock.)

2. Have suffered an injury on or in connection with a vessel.

3. Have suffered that injury due to the negligence of the vessel’s owner, operator, charterer, agent, or crewmember, or even the vessel itself (we’ll discuss “unseaworthy vessels” in a later post).

Get the help you need if you’ve been injured:
The bottom line is that an injured maritime industry worker DOES have recourse for his or her injuries suffered in the course of employment. The worker’s family members also have recourse if that worker is wrongfully killed during the course of their employment. Whether injured workers will turn to the Jones Act or to the LHWCA depends mainly on whether the worker’s employment was primarily sea-based or land-based.

If you’ve been injured in the maritime industry and you have questions about what you should do to obtain proper compensation or which Act you should look to for redress, contact our maritime law attorneys at Denena & Points. We’re based in Houston, and we have long-term experience handling the complex issues that affect workers in the maritime industry along our coast. We could help you pinpoint who’s at fault for an accident, and how negligence caused you harm. If you have questions, we have your answers. Contact us for your free and confidential legal consultation.

Important Jones Act benefits to U.S. seamen that you show know about

The Jones Act provides that a U.S. Merchant Marine, sailor, or crew member injured or fallen ill while at sea is entitled to the benefits of medical care and assistance as well as to recovery and restoration of health. This basically means that if you’re a ship’s crew member injured or fallen ill at sea, your employer must pay you a stipend or other financial compensation for your medical costs until you have been cured.

You also have the right to sue if you’re injured on the job at sea the accident results from the ship owner’s negligence, the negligence of another crewmember, or the unseaworthy nature of the vessel. For a vessel to be seaworthy, it must contain adequate equipment and safety gear for its crewmen, supply a safe environment for the crewmember’s work, and abide by all applicable safety requirements for such operating vessels.

If inadequate or unsafe vessel equipment, missing safety gear, or crewmember negligence provides the cause of your injury or illness on the high seas, you might have a valid claim for financial compensation under the Jones Act. Your claim could entitle you to compensation for the duration of your illness or injury.

So if you’ve been injured at sea or you’ve become ill while working at sea and you have questions, contact the Houston Jones Act attorneys at Denena & Points for a free and confidential consultation. We have the maritime law knowledge, skill, and experience you need to pursue your valid claim. Our understanding, compassion, and injury law expertise could provide the solution you need for a secure financial future. Contact us today.