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Maritime law essentially refers to any type of injuries that occur on navigable waterways. It is a common law term, meaning that it originated in England. According to Tim Young, an attorney from New Orleans, Louisiana whose firm’s practice focuses on maritime injury cases, “It’s a pretty low test to meet for maritime law to apply and it simply has to be what they describe as a ‘navigable waterway’, meaning boats can go up and down it. Even some manmade lakes, if they’re large enough, become maritime areas. Maritime law would also apply to those areas if they’re large enough to be navigated on by vessels.”

What constitutes a vessel?

The definition of what constitutes a vessel could make or break a maritime case. However, Young told us that the definition is actually very loose. He explained, “Actually, a vessel is a very general term that maritime lawyers use. The courts have said that a vessel is anything that is, and this is the actual language they use, anything that is ‘practically capable of navigating’. It can be anything from a small jet ski to large oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico because they move from location to location.”

Admiralty law vs. maritime law

Admiralty and maritime law are terms that are often used interchangeably. However, according to Young, there are some very important differences between the two. He explained:

Admiralty law is a corollary to maritime law. It also originated in England like most of the laws in the United States. The most important difference under admiralty law is that there is no right to a jury. An admiralty claim is tried to a judge alone. It is fairly similar, if not identical, to maritime law in terms of rights and remedies. Again, the main difference being that it’s tried on the bench side, or the judge side, of law rather than on the common law or the jury side.

The vessel does not determine which law applies; it’s pretty much up to the filing party. So, generally it’s an election by the person that’s injured whether he or she wants to file a claim on the admiralty or the maritime side of the law. There are certain remedies and limitations; these are mostly defense remedies for companies, but there are remedies that limit the liability of a company and some of those are strictly on the admiralty side.

If you have been injured in an accident on or near the water, contact an attorney whose practice focuses on maritime issues. To contact an experienced maritime attorney, please click here.