Hurt Offshore?
Your Rights Don't Stop at the Dock.
Offshore workers don't get the ordinary state workers' comp playbook. Depending on where you stood and what you worked on, your injury may fall under the Jones Act, general maritime law, or a federal platform statute — each with its own remedies and its own clock. Talk to a maritime attorney who can tell you which one applies to you, before the company's claims adjuster decides for you.
Maritime Law, Plainly
Three Claims,
One Injured Worker.
A seaman hurt in service of a vessel often has three separate legal tools at once: a negligence claim against the employer, a claim against the vessel's condition, and a right to basic support while recovering. They stack, and they don't depend on each other.
46 U.S.C. § 30104 lets an injured seaman sue the employer for negligence, and the causation bar is famously low — if the employer's carelessness played any part, even a small one, the claim can move forward.
A daily living allowance plus medical care, owed to a seaman hurt in service of the vessel regardless of who was at fault, generally until maximum medical improvement. Wrongful refusal can add punitive damages.
The owner owes a duty to provide a vessel, equipment, and crew reasonably fit for the job. A defective winch, a slick deck, or an undermanned watch can support a claim without proving anyone was careless.
"The sea has its own rulebook. The trouble is that the company's insurer already knows it."
Where Offshore Work Goes Wrong
Accidents We
See Most Often.
Offshore work combines heavy iron, moving water, flammable product, and long shifts far from a hospital. These are the accident patterns that most often turn into serious injury and wrongful death claims.
Crane & Lifting Failures
Dropped loads, wire rope failures, overloaded cranes, and struck-by injuries during pipe handling or deck lifts. Inspection and maintenance records are often the heart of these cases.
Falls, Slips & Deck Hazards
Oil-slicked decks, missing handrails, bad gratings, and unsafe ladders and stairways on rigs and vessels. A fall on a moving deck can mean a spinal or head injury hundreds of miles from shore.
Fire, Explosion & Well Control Events
Gas releases, flash fires, and blowouts cause catastrophic burns and loss of life. Multiple companies are usually involved — operator, drilling contractor, service company — and each points at the others.
Transfers, Personnel Baskets & Man Overboard
Crew changes by basket, swing rope, or gangway are one of the most dangerous moments of an offshore hitch. Rough seas, poor planning, or a careless crane operator can put a worker in the water or on the deck.
Helicopter Crashes & Crew Boat Accidents
Getting to and from the platform is itself a hazard. Maintenance lapses, pilot error, weather decisions, and overloaded or poorly operated crew boats can all be the cause.
Wrongful Death of a Crew Member
When an offshore worker doesn't come home, the family has rights under the Jones Act, the Death on the High Seas Act, or platform law, depending on the facts. The deadlines start running long before the grief eases.
A Quick Gut Check
Signs You Should
Make the Call.
There's no such thing as a minor offshore injury once it affects your ability to work. These are the situations that most often prompt a first conversation with a maritime attorney.
You work aboard a vessel, rig, or crew boat
Drillships, jack-ups, supply boats, tugs, and barges all raise the possibility of seaman status and the full set of maritime remedies.
You were hurt on a fixed platform
Different law, different benefits — and often a third party, like an operator or contractor, who can be pursued in addition to workers' compensation.
The company doctor says you're fine, but you aren't
Early release to work, disputed diagnoses, and denied treatment are common reasons maintenance and cure ends before you've actually recovered.
You've been asked to sign something or give a statement
Releases, recorded statements, and incident forms deserve a second set of eyes before your signature is on them.
Months have gone by and nothing has been resolved
Some maritime and platform claims run on clocks shorter than the headline three years. Waiting is the one move that only helps the other side.
Your family lost someone offshore
Wrongful death law offshore turns on exactly where and how it happened, and surviving family members have rights that differ from those of the injured worker.
What Actually Happens
Four Steps From
Incident to Action.
Offshore cases are document-heavy and evidence disappears fast — logs get overwritten, equipment gets repaired, crews rotate off. Here's the shape the process usually takes.
Free Case Review
A connected maritime attorney hears what happened, where, and what you do for a living, then tells you whether your situation looks like a Jones Act, platform, or wrongful death claim.
Lock Down the Evidence
Incident reports, crew lists, maintenance and inspection records, photos, medical records, and communications get identified and preserved, including requests that the company not alter or discard anything.
Identify Every Responsible Party
The employer is rarely the only one. Vessel owners, operators, contractors, and equipment makers can all share fault, and each answers under different law.
Pursue Benefits and Claims
Maintenance and cure is demanded while the claim is built, and the case is filed or negotiated within the correct deadline — federal court, state court, or an administrative claim, depending on the route.
Straight Talk
Three Things to Know
Before You Sign Anything
"The company's friendly claims rep works for the company's insurer, not for you."
"Medical history forms are legal documents. A concealed prior injury can cost a seaman maintenance and cure."
"Equipment gets repaired, logs get overwritten, crews rotate off. Evidence offshore has a short shelf life."
Common Questions
What You Need to Know
The Jones Act, 46 U.S.C. § 30104, protects seamen, and the Supreme Court's test in Chandris, Inc. v. Latsis, 515 U.S. 347 (1995), asks two things: whether your duties contribute to the function or mission of a vessel, and whether you have a connection to a vessel (or a fleet under common ownership or control) that is substantial in both duration and nature. Courts often use roughly 30 percent of your working time aboard vessels as a rule of thumb. Jack-ups, drillships, supply boats, and crew boats are generally vessels; fixed platforms generally are not, which is why where you actually work matters. A connected maritime attorney can review your specific facts at no cost.
For most maritime personal injury claims, including Jones Act claims, the general federal limit is three years from the date of injury under 46 U.S.C. § 30106. Other routes run on shorter clocks: a Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act claim generally requires notice to your employer within 30 days (33 U.S.C. § 912) and a claim within one year (33 U.S.C. § 913), and a vessel owner who receives written notice of a claim can file a Limitation of Liability Act action, which sets a six-month window to respond. Claims on fixed platforms can borrow the limitations period of the adjacent state under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. Because the right deadline depends on which law applies, don't wait to find out which one is yours.
Maintenance is a daily living allowance and cure is payment of reasonable medical care. A seaman who is hurt or falls ill in the service of the vessel is generally owed both regardless of fault, until reaching maximum medical improvement. Employers sometimes cut them off early or dispute them. If an employer's failure to pay is willful, the Supreme Court held in Atlantic Sounding Co. v. Townsend, 557 U.S. 404 (2009), that punitive damages are available. One real defense exists: under McCorpen v. Central Gulf Steamship Corp., 396 F.2d 547 (5th Cir. 1968), an employer can deny benefits for a pre-existing condition a seaman intentionally concealed when hired, so accuracy on medical history forms matters. A connected attorney can look at what you're owed.
A Jones Act claim is a negligence claim against your employer, and because the statute incorporates the Federal Employers' Liability Act, the causation burden is light: employer negligence only needs to play some part, even a slight one, in producing the injury. Unseaworthiness is a separate claim under general maritime law against the vessel owner for a vessel, equipment, or crew that was not reasonably fit for its purpose, and it does not depend on proving negligence. Under Dutra Group v. Batterton, 588 U.S. 358 (2019), punitive damages are not available for unseaworthiness. Many cases plead both claims together, along with maintenance and cure.
Often yes, but under different law. Fixed platforms on the Outer Continental Shelf fall under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which adopts the law of the adjacent state as federal law where it is not inconsistent (43 U.S.C. § 1333(a)(2)), and extends Longshore Act workers' compensation to injuries from OCS operations (43 U.S.C. § 1333(b)). Workers' compensation is typically the remedy against your direct employer, but you may still bring negligence claims against third parties such as a platform owner, an operator, a contractor, or an equipment maker. If you also spend real time on vessels, you could qualify as a seaman instead. A connected attorney can sort out which category fits you.
Generally yes. When a death occurs on the high seas, more than three nautical miles from shore, the Death on the High Seas Act, 46 U.S.C. §§ 30301–30308, lets the personal representative sue for the benefit of the spouse, children, and certain dependent relatives, and recoverable damages are typically limited to pecuniary losses. If the person who died was a Jones Act seaman, the Jones Act also provides a wrongful death action for survivors. Deaths on fixed platforms are governed by OCSLA and the adjacent state's law. The three-year federal deadline in 46 U.S.C. § 30106 applies to DOHSA claims. A connected attorney can explain which route applies to your family.
Not before speaking to an attorney. Courts examine seamen's releases closely, and the Supreme Court has said an employer carries the burden of showing the seaman understood what was given up (Garrett v. Moore-McCormack Co., 317 U.S. 239 (1942)), but a signed document can still create real problems later. Statements to company claims representatives, insurers, and investigators can be used to dispute fault or the extent of your injury. Report the accident in writing, get medical care, and keep copies of everything.
Don't Let the
Clock Run Out.
A private conversation about your offshore injury — free, and with zero pressure to commit.