Working aboard ships can be extremely dangerous. Sometimes crew members are seriously injured on ships. Seriously injured crew members and their families need to understand maritime law. In order to illustrate these points here is a Jones Act accident case study by a Maritime Attorney. The discussion includes a Maritime Law analysis.

A Broken Deck Winch

A crew member is injured by a defective deck winch. While trying to help the wire rope to spool in a level manner, his glove catches on a spur and his hand is drawn into the winch. He has three fingers amputated and crushing injuries to his remaining fingers and hand.

Unseaworthiness

A shipowner has an absolute duty to provide a seaworthy ship. A seaworthy ship is a ship that is reasonably fit for its intended use. The seaman doesn't have to prove the entire ship is unseaworthy. For example, defective shipboard equipment may render the vessel unseaworthy.

To prevail on this claim, a Jones Act seaman must show:

1) the ship's warranty of seaworthiness applied to him;
2) he was injured by the ship's equipment;
3) the equipment was not reasonably fit for its intended use; and
4) this unseaworthy condition caused the seaman's injury.

Here, the seaman was permanently attached to the vessel and had seaman status. The seaman was injured by the ship's winch. The winch had a documented history of not spooling properly. The winch's spool was misaligned and prevented proper spooling. The improper spooling caused the seaman to have his hands in harms way. Thus, the unseaworthy condition was the cause of his injuries.

Negligence

In order to recover for negligence under the Jones Act a seaman must show that the employer was negligent, and the negligence was a cause, however slight, of their injuries. Even the slightest negligence is sufficient to sustain a finding of liability.

To show negligence, a Seaman must demonstrate:

1) their employer had a duty to provide him a safe place to work;
2) the employer breached that duty;
3) the employer knew or should have known about the work conditions, and
4) the employer's negligence caused the injuries.

Here, again, the Seaman was permanently attached to the vessel and had seaman status. The employer breached the duty to the seaman because the winch was not safe. The winch had a history of improper spooling and thus the employer's documents put them on notice as to the winch needing repair and/or replacement. The failure to properly repair the winch was a direct cause of injury to the Seaman.

The seaman successfully settled his Jones Act Case.

Disclaimer:

The is a ship crew member case study. It is not legal advice. Any resemblance to actual cases and/or vessels is purely by accident. This case study is admittedly simplistic in order to achieve clarity. Each ship accident case is different and has separate difficulties and/or challenges. There is no guarantee that your Jones Act accident case will have a similar result as discussed in this Jones Act seaman injury case study.