Pirate Hijacking and Jones Act Law
Video Transcript:
Affecting change through the legal system, justice in action. Seven months ago, America watched as a group of Somali pirates attacked the Maersk Alabama, a cargo ship in route to Kenya. During the attack, the pirates held an American sea captain hostage. After a four-day stand off, Captain Richard Phillips was rescued and brought to safety. But during that siege, the lives of the entire were changed as the men on that vessel were held for some 13 hours at 130 degrees in the hole of the ship. One of the crew members, Richard Hicks was the first to file a law suit in that case and I talked with his attorney Houston lawyer Terry Bryant about the events of that traumatic day.
Terry Bryant: During that time, they were not sure whether they would able to live ever again, so they were in great fear of their life.
Cindy Speaker: On November 18th, 2009, the Maersk Alabama was attacked again but this time with a much different outcome. I have a quote from navy vice admiral William E. Gortney. He says, regarding the most recent attack, this is a great example of how merchant mariners can take proactive action to prevent being attacked, and while we recommend that ships follow industry best practices if their in high risk areas. It would have been even better if the industry had been following best practices while in high risk areas like such as the Maersk Alabama was in when attacked previously back in April of 2009.
I spoke with Terry Bryant again this morning and I asked him, what was the difference about the most recent attack and what has changed since the April attack that gave this story a happy ending.
Terry Bryant: What is different is that these ship owners have apparently decided to take responsibility for protecting their crew members in a way that allowed these crew members to be—what I think is that our lawsuit that filed back in May has had an effect on these shipping companies and their insurance companies. They’ve decided that the taking of their crew member lives in a serious way and protecting the crew member lives is an important business practice for them. It’s important that the government not be the one to have to step up at tax payer expense and provide security for private enterprise.
Cindy Speaker: The attack yesterday is really evidence that the system works.
Terry Bryant Yes, the system works because we have a very sophisticated judicial system that places responsibility on companies and insurance companies that are not doing the right thing for the people that work for them. Often times what happens in the judicial system is that changes brought about from bad things happening to people. For example, there are some products that have been improved on and made safer because of the judicial system and the justice that people were able to obtain for their injuries and things like that. So the Judicial system brings about change that is good and safe for the public.
Cindy Speaker: Effecting positive change. Attorneys that champion the causes of innocent victims put themselves into a crossfire where they are often ridiculed when in fact, they are a catalytic force in changing laws that protects consumers from some of the greedy practices of big businesses that care far too much about profit and for too little about people. This is Cindy Speaker reporting from State Law TV.
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Video Transcript:
Cindy Speaker: Welcome to our first episode of Maritime Law TV. My name is Cindy Speaker and I’ll be your host. Maritime law is not a commonly known area of law, however, it has received some significant attention over the past year, primarily due to the reporting of various pirate attacks, most notably the highly publicize attack on the Maersk Alabama in April of 2009.
Most maritime law injuries and incidents, however, are not pirate attacks, but things such as back injuries, neck injuries and cargo injuries, cruise ship injuries also fall under the heading of maritime law, as to injuries that occur on private vessels. Today, we will introduce you to a specific area of maritime law known as the Jones Act.
The Jones Act known officially as the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 was statute sponsored by Senator Wesley L. Jones of Washington. It specifically covers the worker’s compensation rights of sailors and the use of foreign vessels in domestic trade.
When the Somalia pirate incident occurred in April, some of the crew filed claims under Jones Act law. Houston attorney, Terry Bryant was the first attorney to file a claim and it did so on behalf of a member of the Maersk crew. This is Mr. Bryant’s explanation of the Jones Act.
Terry Bryant: The Jones Act was enacted by congress to protect seafaring workers to make sure that they’re not injured and help them in a case of injury or harm while they’re out at sea. The Jones Act applies to generally any vessel that has a name on it that is actually used in maritime. Typically, it does not apply to offshore rigs that are stationary out in the gulf.
Cindy Speaker: Until next time. This is Cindy Speaker from Maritime Law TV.
