Maritime Personal Injury Claims

What is a Maritime Personal Injury Claim?

Maritime personal injury claims involve accidents or injuries which occur on navigable bodies of water such as oceans, the Long Island Sound, rivers or lakes. Thus, if you sustained injuries in a boating accident or while a passenger on a ship, you may have a maritime personal injury claim. Connecticut law would apply in cases involving accidents on state waters, such as lakes and rivers. However, federal maritime law would apply to all boat accidents, cruise ship accidents and other water related accidents that occur on the navigable waters of the United States.

Maritime personal injury claims can involve accidents occurring on river cruises, recreational boating accidents, passenger cruise ship lines, harbor craft and in shipyards and other marine facilities.

In addition, if you are a fisherman, seaman or other maritime worker and you sustain injuries while working on a ship or other vessel, you may have a claim for injuries under the Jones Act, which is a federal statute designed to protect injured maritime workers.

Some of the most important factors to consider when bringing a Jones Act claim including whether the injured person was a working seaman, the responsibility of the vessel’s owner or master for the victim’s injuries or death and the location where the accident occurred. The Jones Act generally applies to any employment related injury which occurs on the high seas or in the navigable waters of the United States. Some examples of claims that could fall under the Jones Act involve accidents suffered in transit or from offshore drilling rigs, accidents which occur on drilling platforms, injuries or death resulting from the unseaworthiness of a vessel or ship, injuries or death resulting from the negligence of the master of a commercial vessel, accident claims of an employee on a cruise ship, injuries to harbor and dock workers attributable to the unseaworthiness or negligence of a commercial vessel and certain commercial boating accidents.

A Jones Act claim is not the same as a worker’s compensation claim. Generally, employees at sea are not automatically entitled to recover through a worker’s compensation claim regardless of fault, like land based employees are. Instead, the Jones Act often allows them to recover far greater amounts for the same injuries. It is important that contact an experienced attorney as soon as possible in order to protect your right to be compensated for your injuries.

If you have a maritime injury claim, please fill out the contact form or call us at (203) 250-7212. We will be happy to assist you with your claim and answer any questions you may have regarding your case.