Will the Jones Act Apply if...?

Posted by: rzehl
March 26, 2009
Topic: The Jones Act

Throughout the years, Fitts Zehl has successfully handled numerous maritime injury cases. Potential clients often call the office wondering whether or not they qualify to sue under the Jones Act. As I’ve stated in previous articles on this blog, the Jones Act is very specific in its requirements. Typically, one must be a seaman, working on a vessel and contributing toward its overall mission in order to recover under the Jones Act. However, as technology has changed, the Jones Act has been applied to maritime workers that are not traditional seamen, but are instead responsible for the operation of special-purpose equipment.

The use of special-purpose equipment, like dredges and drilling platforms, has resulted in the emergence of two issues seeking to reconcile the disparity. First, whether the special-purpose equipment can be considered a “vessel” such that a worker associated with its use and operation could properly seek recovery under the Jones Act if they were otherwise qualified as a “seaman” or “member of the crew”. Second, whether the maritime laborer, under the facts of the individual case, was a “seaman” or “member of the crew” to whom the Jones Act was applicable.

 As to the first issue, courts have generally held that dredges are Jones Act vessels in navigation for purposes of recovery by injured seamen or crew members except where the dredges were operating on private land or were being used incidental to improvements on the land rather than in aid of commerce and navigation. The courts' treatment of drilling equipment and drilling rigs has depended upon the type of equipment involved. Drilling equipment consisting of fixed or stationary platforms has been uniformly held not to be vessels within the meaning of the Jones Act , while drilling rigs of the "jack-up" type, supported on retractable, hydraulically operated legs and of the "submersible barge" or "floating derrick" type, which are usually floated to a drilling site, have generally been found to qualify as Jones Act vessels, except where such rigs were only partially constructed and not in operation (92 A.L.R. Fed. 733).

If you or a loved has been injured offshore, contact the Jones Act lawyers at Fitts Zehl today. We have the experience necessary to recover for you. Contact us by phone (713) 491-6064 or email info@gulfcoastmaritimelawyer.com. 

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