Maritime Injury Lawyer & Attorney : Vujasinovic & Beckcom : Jones Act : Serving Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi

As Jones Act and maritime law attorneys, we are often asked about the law governing cruise ships. 

Broadly speaking, there are two types of injuries on a cruise ship.  

1.  Crewmember injuries;

2.  Passenger injuries;

The law is different for each category.  For instance, crewmembers who are injured on the vessel are generally Jones Act seamen and are permitted to sue under the Jones Act. 

 

For passengers, general maritime law will probably apply, and depending on what kind of cruise ship it is, and the type of ticket you purchased, there may be a very short time to file your case and your choice of "venue" (where you file the lawsuit) may be extremely limited.

Finding an attorney who sues cruise ships is not easy because the vast, vast majority of attorneys have never helped and will never help a client with a case against a cruise ship.

If you were injured on a cruise ship, whether you are a crewmember or a passenger, please take some time to read our book on maritime injury cases and read this website and some of the articles below before hiring legal counsel.

Want to know more about maritime injury cases? 

We strive to provide the best, most professional, and most effective representation to workers in the offshore industry.  We are based in Houston, Texas.  We represent offshore workers all over the world.

To learn more about our law firm and what we can do for you, please visit the following websites:

www.vbattorneys.com

www.maritimeaccidentattorney.com

www.houstoninjuryaccidentlaw.com

If you want to know more about offshore injury claims, please take a moment to read the following articles:

1.  How to hire the best lawyer for your Jones Act or offshore injury case

2.  What is the Jones Act?

3.  What is a Longshoreman and What Are Their Legal Rights When Injured?

4.  The difference between the Jones Act and the Longshore & Harbor Worker's Compensation Act

5.  The Truth About Offshore Injury Claims.

6.  What Should You Do If You Are Injured Offshore

7.  What you should know if you were hurt offshore and your employer is giving you a hard time

8.  Should I give my employer or the insurance company a "recorded statement?"

9.  Do I need to hire a lawyer for my Jones Act or offshore injury claim?

10.  What happens when you file a Jones Act lawsuit.

11.  6 Critical Things you must know if you are injured at sea

12. The Secrets Your Employer May Not Want You To Know If You Are Injured Offshore.

 

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Houston and Galveston have two of the busiest ports in the country for cruise ship business.  Most of the major cruise ship companies make port in Galveston or the Port of Houston, or both.

Cruise ship vacations can be great fun.  However, too often, injuries occur on cruise ships that were preventable.

If you are injured on a cruise ship, you have legal remedies.  Your case most likely falls under "maritime law," so you will want to hire an experience maritime attorney to review your case.

In the meantime, there are two broad catergories of "maritime law" that apply to your case if you are hurt on a cruise ship.  Your legal remedies will depend on what you were doing on the cruise ship when you were hurt.

1.  Cruise ship employees

If you were employed by the cruise ship and working on the ship when you got hurt, then you are most likely a Jones Act "seaman" (or seamwoman). 

That means you are entitled to claim a monetary recovery under the Jones Act for any injuries you sustain, your medical care, you lost wages (both past and future), as well as your human damages like pain and suffering, mental anguish, and other simliar claims.

Curious about the Jones Act?  Click here for a general overview of the Jones Act.

2.  Cruise ship passengers

If you were a passenger on a cruise ship, then you are probably entitled to recover for your injuries under "General Maritime Law." 

General maritime law is not as favorable as the Jones Act.

However, you can probably still make a monetary recovery if you can prove that the cruise ship, or one of its employees, failed to exercise reasonable care for the safety of the passengers. 

Cruise lines owe a duty to exercise reasonable care for the safety of the passengers as well as reasonable care under all the circumstances.

3.  Conclusion

Our firm regularly handles cruise ship injury claims.  We have represented both cruise line passengers as well as cruise line employees.  We have handled cases against most of the major cruise lines.

If you have been injured in a cruise line accident, we would be happy to assist you in your claim.

Want to know more about offshore injury claims? 

Below are some links to some suggested articles offering helpful tips and advice regarding offshore injury claims.

Click here to read an article with helpful suggestions and tips on how to hire the best lawyer for your offshore injury case.

Curious about the Jones Act?  Click here for a general overview of the Jones Act.

Want to know more about the Longshore and Harbor Worker's Compensation Act?  Click here to read the article "What is a Longshoreman and What Are Their Legal Rights When Injured?

Want to know the difference between the Jones Act and the Longshore and Harbor Worker's Compensation Act?  Click here to read about the difference between the two.

What to know the truth about offshore injury cases?  Click here to read The Truth About Offshore Injury Claims.

Want to know what you should do after an offshore injury to preserve your legal rights?  Click here to read  What Should You Do If You Are Injured Offshore

If you are hurt and your employer is giving you a hard time, click here to read "I was injured on the job and my employer is giving me a hard time - What should I do"

Employer trying to get you to give a recorded statement?  Click here to learn the truth about recorded statements and the best way to handle this request.

Thinking about trying to settle your offshore injury case without talking to a lawyer first?  Click here to learn why you can settle some cases yourself but in other cases not having a lawyer may be a TERRIBLE MISTAKE.

Want to know what happens when you file an offshore injury or Jones Act case?  Click here to learn about Filing a Jones Act lawsuit.

Click here to learn about 6 Critical Things you must know if you are Injured At Sea

Your employer may be keeping secrets from you if you are hurt offshore.  Click here to read about The Secrets Your Employer May Not Want You To Know If You Are Injured Offshore.

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A barge worker's widow recently filed a lawsuit against a barge company and a contracting company after her husband was killed. 

In the lawsuit, the widow claims that her deceased husband died when he slipped and fell on an icy barge.  The barge was empty.  The lawsuit claims that the barge company failed to provide the worker with a safe place to work.

About this case and maritime wrongful death claims

Under maritime law, the direct descendents of deceased workers may be able to bring claims for wrongful death.  Under most claims, the survivors must prove that the company did something "negligent" to cause the death or that the vessel was "unseaworthy" and that caused the subject accident or death.  The damages available differ depending on a lot of factors, but if the survivors were financially dependent on the deceased worker, they generally can collect damages for the loss of financial support.

The negligence standards differ depending on whether the case is a Jones Act case, a Longshore and Harbor Worker's Compensation Act case, a General Maritime Law case, or some other case.

Most of the time, only an experienced maritime and Jones Act lawyer will be able to tell you what law you can file under and what claims you can bring. 

Most important, don't trust the insurance company to tell you your rights.  Hire your own independent lawyer to advise you.

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Injured seamen are entitled to maintenance, cure and unearned wages.  However, some Jones Act employers refuse to pay maintenance, cure and/or unearned wages.

Injured seamen can bring claims beyond the traditional worker's compensation remedies.  Specifically, injured seamen are entitled to payment for related medical treatment, payment of compensation during their period of disability, and payment of unearned wages.  In addition to these worker's compensation-type remedies, injured seamen can also bring negligence claims and unseaworthiness claims against their employer.

The rest of this post explains the entitlement to maintenance and cure and unearned wages in more detail:
Entitlement to Maintenance and Cure Generally

A seamen's employer is responsible for paying maintenance and cure for an injury or illness that occurs in the course and scope of an injured seaman's employment.  This is a centuries-old obligation and arises from the employment relationship between the injured seaman and his or her employer.  The obligation to pay maintenance and cure arises irrespective of fault or negligence.

A seaman is also entitled to unearned wages from his employer until he or she is fit for duty or they are no longer disabled.

The right to "Maintenance."

Maintenance is designed to compensate an injured seaman for room and board he would have received on the vessel had he or she not been injured.

Generally, maintenance payments range between $15 - $40 per day.  Many lawyers for injured seaman have argued for higher maintenance payments, but courts have not been particularly receptive to this argument.

The obligation to pay maintenance continues until the seaman reaches "maximum medical improvement," which is defined as the point at which all future medical care is "palliative" in nature only.

The right to "Cure."

Cure means medical treatment.  Like maintenance, cure is not dependent on negligence or fault.  A seamen is entitled to cure until he reaches maximum medical improvement.  Injured seamen must mitigate their medical expenses to the extent possible, but the seaman's employer bears the burden to prove that medical expenses are excessive or unreasonable or unnecessary.

The right to "Unearned Wages."

Seamen are entitled to wages they would have earned had they not been injured.  For example, if a seaman is injured at the beginning of his or her work on an offshore mobile drilling rig or a ship, he or she will be entitled to what they would have been paid had the injury not occurred.

The right to maintenance and cure should be resolved in favor of injured seaman.
 
The law on a seaman's entitlement to maintenance and cure is well-settled.  Courts have consistenly held that all doubts or ambiguities with respect to entitlement to maintenance and cure should be resolved in favor of the injured seaman. 

If an employer wrongfully or willfully denies maintenance and cure, they may be required to pay an injured seaman's attorney fees for obtaining maintenance and cure.

Conclusion.

Injured seaman are entitled to maintenance, cure, and unearned wages regardless of fault or negligence if they are injured or contract an illness while in the service of a ship.  However, some employers refuse to provide maintenance, cure, and unearned wages.  This is unfortunate but all too common.

Like any maritime dispute, an injured seaman should consider consulting an experienced maritime lawyer if his or her employer wrongfully refuses to live up to their maintenance, cure, and unearned wages.

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A district court recently found that a winch attached to a dock is not part of a ship such that a defect in the winch could be considered a part of the ship for unseaworthiness purposes.

The decision is O'Donnell v. Jean McCausland, L.L.C., 2005 U.S. Dist. 29202, No. 04-cv-175-PB (D.N.H., November 17, 2005.

This decision makes sense.  The shipowner owes a duty to provide a seaworthy ship and equipment to seamen aboard the vessel.  It does not owe such a duty with respect to dock-based equipment, at least according to this recent decision.

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