Maritime law, which governs any type of injuries that occur on navigable waterways, precisely defines terms such as “seaman”, “longshoreman” and “land and sea workers”. Those definitions are extremely important as they may determine what type of claim a maritime worker can file.

From the expert

Tim Young, an attorney from New Orleans, Louisiana whose firm’s practice focuses on maritime injury cases, provided us with definitions of some of the more important terms used in maritime cases:

• “Seaman”: A seaman is a term used under the Jones Act – and in order for someone to qualify under the Jones Act, they must be a seaman. It’s generally a person working at sea or assigned to a vessel. The threshold question that’s asked is whether a person is a ‘Jones Act seaman’. In order to be a seaman, a person has to be working about 30 percent of their time on vessels for an employer. Those are the main criteria to qualify as a seaman. And just to clarify – a seaman can be a woman or a man. The term “sea person” might be more appropriate.
• “Longshoreman”: A longshoreman is a worker engaged in maritime activity, but one who does not work aboard vessels. Typically, fixed platform workers in the Gulf of Mexico will be longshoremen. They are doing maritime or oil and gas related work, however they are not working on a vessel or on a boat; they’re on a fixed platform. Longshoremen are traditionally dock workers because they’re working near the water and doing maritime type activity. However, they are not assigned to any particular vessels.

Differences between land and sea workers

According to Young, the difference between land and sea based workers in the maritime industry is very fluid. He explained, “There is definitely a lot of overlap between people who spend some time on land and some time at sea. The main question in a person’s case is going to be – did he or she spend more time at sea than on land or at least 30 percent of their time at sea rather than on land?”

“If they can satisfy the sea requirement and spend enough time at sea, they generally have better remedies and claims available to them. So, as a maritime lawyer, my first question to a possible client is – how much time did they actually spend at sea? We like to see clients who spend more than 30 percent of their time at sea because that generally allows them to file better claims.”

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.