Maritime Rights Overview

Maritime law, also called admiralty law, is a branch of law that covers most aspects of maritime activities and workers, including shipping, navigation, seamen, piers and docks, wharves, canals, recreational activities and ships, towage, maritime liens, and even piracy. Maritime law is similar to but separate from civil law. The practice of common law, or using precedent, is not binding in maritime law but may be used in some situations.

What Are Maritime Rights?

The term maritime rights usually refers to the right of workers in the maritime industry to seek and receive compensation after workplace accidents and injuries. In many cases, that right extends to dependents or families of maritime workers killed on the job.

Maritime rights derive from several laws and precedents. Some rights come from ancient practices, like maintenance and cure. Maintenance and cure is an employer’s or ship owner’s obligation to provide the costs of living and medical expenses when a maritime worker is hurt on the job and cannot work. Other maritime rights in the U.S. come from a handful of federal laws called maritime law.

The History of Maritime Law

The development of the law in the U.S. began with British admiralty courts. These were separate from other types of courts of law when America was a colony of Britain.

• The Judiciary Act of 1789, signed by President George Washington, gave the newly created federal courts jurisdiction over maritime law.
• Admiralty law, and the U.S. federal courts’ rights to have jurisdiction over it, comes from the Constitution.  
• Article III of the U.S. Constitution states that federal judicial power extends to, among other things, “all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction.”
• Article I describes the powers of Congress and allows the legislative branch to regulate these laws.

At one time, maritime law in the U.S. only applied to tidal waters, which excluded many non-coastal waterways like lakes and rivers. Today, maritime law applies to any navigable waters in the U.S. that can be used for interstate commerce, foreign commerce, or recreation.

Maritime Rights and Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction largely falls under federal courts, but there are exceptions. Because maritime courts cannot extend to non-maritime matters, there is a “Savings to Suitors Clause.”

This allows a party to request the use of common law through state courts, concurrently with maritime courts, for things like property claims, cargo damage, or even personal injury. These are instances in which it is reasonable for the party to have the right to a jury trial under common law.

Admiralty law dictates that the flag of a ship is what determines the law by which it is bound. This means that a U.S. ship in foreign waters is subject to U.S. maritime law, but a foreign ship in American waters is subject to the laws of its own country.

Federal Maritime Laws

Several acts and laws fall under the category of maritime law. They apply to different situations and types of workers.

The Jones Act

The Jones Act, or the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, includes several components. Its primary purpose is to maintain a robust civilian maritime industry that can be called upon as needed in times of war.

In terms of maritime workers, it allows qualifying seamen to sue for damages when negligence causes their workplace injuries. The Jones Act also includes regulation of U.S. port commerce.

Qualifying seamen are workers who spend most of their time contributing to the operation of a seafaring vessel in navigation. In other words, crew members on vessels.

The Longshore Harbor and Workers’ Compensation Act

The Longshore Harbor and Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) protects maritime workers who primarily do their jobs onshore and in ports. It is similar to regular workers’ compensation but for a specific group of maritime workers called longshoremen. 

Outer Continental Shelf Lands Acts

The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act is an extension of the LHWCA. It offers workers’ compensation to people who work in the area between the open ocean and the continent. These are mostly oil rig and natural gas platform workers.

The Death on the High Seas Act

For the dependents of seamen and other maritime workers, the Death on the High Seas Act of 1920 provides compensation and damages in the event of a death on the job.

The law also provides for passengers on recreational or transportation vessels and allows for claims of negligence or unseaworthiness in various situations.

What Types of Worker Accidents Are Covered by Maritime Law?

The various acts that make up maritime rights cover countless examples of incidents and accidents. The maritime environment is a high-risk one, and there are inherent dangers. Workers can make claims based on any number of accidents. These include:

• Slips and falls
• Falls overboard
• Commercial fishing injuries
• Broken limbs or amputations
• Repetitive stress injuries
• Head injuries
• Toxic chemical exposure
• Burns

There are also many potential causes of maritime accidents that can lead to a claim:

• Defective products or ship equipment could be at fault for an accident. These accidents can also occur on docks and piers, not only on ships, and may happen to seamen or longshoremen.
• Other reasons for injuries and accidents include inadequate training of a worker or workers or the unseaworthiness of a vessel.
• The sinking of a ship is also a possibility but should be avoidable.

These accidents at sea can happen in any vessel. Recreational and transportation ships, like cruise ships and ferries, can be the site of accidents and injuries to passengers or crew members.

Fishing vessels, especially crab boats, are exceptionally high risk for workers. Other ships involved in accidents include dredgers, seiners, lifeboats, tugboats, and tankers. Accidents can also happen in a variety of settings.

Maritime accidents aren’t just for the open ocean; they can occur on navigable rivers, inland lakes, and oil rigs on the continental shelf.

The law also covers several accidents caused explicitly by equipment problems involving: 

• Cranes
• Cargo
• Conveyor belts
• Plate freezers
• Ladders and steps
• Fish processing equipment
• Winches 
• Ropes

Fires on ships and in harbors, chemicals stored in harbor facilities or on ships, and other types of dangerous cargo can also cause accidents and injuries that may be covered.

Anyone involved in maritime activities in the U.S. or aboard a U.S. ship is protected by maritime law and has the right to seek damages in the case of injury, loss of property, damage to property, death, and other instances.

The various laws that provide workers with maritime rights are designed to cover a variety of situations. They ensure a way to get compensation for those who have been the victims of negligence, crime, or unseaworthiness.