If you’ve worked the seas long enough, you most certainly know someone, or at the very least, have come across a cautionary tale of someone, who has gone missing or fallen overboard. Is it commonplace, thankfully no; however, if it’s you or someone you care for who has gone overboard, it doesn’t matter if it’s a rarity. So, how can you determine whether or not the ship owner is liable? Well, you can’t, but the Jones Act attorneys at O’Bryan Baun Karamanian can. Because every case is unique, it’s hard to provide a definitive answer as to whether or not you have a case, but, there are some essential elements that are important to keep in mind.
First of all, it starts with the hiring process. A ship owner, and by extension through their human resources department, has a duty to protect their employees, and all too often checking into a crew member’s criminal history is overlooked. Crew members with a known violent history is most certainly within the purview of a ship owners duty in keeping other crew members safe; thus, if someone’s presence creates a foreseeable and/or an unreasonable risk of harm to crew members, the protection duty of the ship owner has been violated, and they may be held liable if someone is victimized.
Also, when you are on the open water the weather conditions can change drastically in a short period of time; nevertheless, ship owners are obliged to inform their crew of known dangers or dangers in which it should have known. You may be thinking, “If the weather can change drastically very quickly, how would anyone know?” Well, most ocean sailing ships are furnished with state of the art equipment, which provides detailed conditions of the areas they are sailing and venturing into. Accordingly, if the ship is expected to encounter rough seas it is the duty of the deck officers to inform all crew not in the know that precautions should be taken. This may mean the evacuation of certain areas on the deck, ceasing work being done in potentially dangerous area, or any other number of things that can preserve the safety of the crew. Not taking necessary precautions once alerted to potentially dangerous waters or if the crew is not alerted and someone goes overboard, the ship owner may indeed be held liable.
Further, if someone does go overboard, there is an innate responsibility that a ship owner make a reasonable search and rescue action. Failing to perform such an action, or doing so in an insufficient manner, leaves the ship owner liable for any injury or death that may occur as a result of its failure. But, surely weather isn’t the only reason someone may go overboard.
There are numerous ways to go overboard, and bad weather is but one. Another common reason crew members will go overboard is when the ship is defective in some way. Most common is the handrails being unreliable. If a ship owner’s duty of providing its crew with a seaworthy vessel is not met (whether it’s the handrails or something else), the ship owner may be found negligent if a crew member goes overboard. Moreover, although being intoxicated may seem like a temporarily self-imposed disability, this too may leave the owner in hot water. Ship owners have a duty to not over serve its crew to the point of intoxication, and if they do they must protect the crew member from his or her aforementioned disability. If they do not perform this duty correctly, a court may hold the ship owner liable for damages resulting from injury or going overboard.
Lastly, a ship owner should always have its crew members safety in mind, and doing so is easily observable. One easy way to keep your crew safe is to provide and maintain safety equipment. This may be anything from a floatation device, special shoes, gloves, or harness. If a ship owner does not provide the correct equipment in a well maintained state for the duty assigned, it may be held liable under the Jones Act or Unseaworthiness doctrines if an injury or death occurs. To be sure, contact us so that you are fully aware of all of your options.
