Doctrine of Unseaworthiness

Video Transcription:
Cindy Speaker: What is the doctrine of unseaworthiness? That’s our topic on this episode of Maritime Law TV. My guest in internationally recognized maritime lawyer, Terry Bryant of the Houston firm of Terry Bryant Accident and Injury Law.

Terry, nice to have you again.

Terry Bryant: Nice to be here, Cindy.

Cindy Speaker: Terry what makes a vessel seaworthy?

Terry Bryant: According to court, a vessel is seaworthy if the vessel and all of its parts and equipment are reasonably fit for their intended purpose and it is operated by a crew, reasonably, adequate and confident for the work assigned.

Cindy Speaker: Okay. Now, let’s look at the flip side of that. What is the doctrine of unseaworthiness.

Terry Bryant: A vessel is considered unseaworthy if the vessel or any of its parts or equipment is not reasonably fit for the intended purpose, or if the crew is not reasonably adequate or competent to perform the work assigned.

Cindy Speaker: Let’s talk about some specific examples of unseaworthiness.

Terry Bryant: Okay. One example would be having a seaman or crew member on the vessel that is not properly trained to do his or her job, and therefore, causes someone else to be injured on board.

Cindy Speaker: Now, does that also apply to cruise ships?

Terry Bryant: It does. Cruise lines are required to operate their ships in a manner that does not cause injury.

Cindy Speaker: So technically, the Titanic was unseaworthy, because they did not have enough life boats on board and that was a huge factor in the mass of number of deaths that occurred.

Terry Bryant: Yes, I think that history shows that the Titanic was definitely unseaworthy.

Cindy Speaker: How about other examples.

Terry Bryant: If a cable breaks and causes injury to a seaman, that seaman could claim that the vessel was unseaworthy. If the vessel is not fully staffed and the crew is asked to work unreasonably long days or work so hard that they sustain undue injury. Another example would be if the deck of the vessel is not properly maintained. Maybe it has a build up of oil that causes a seaman to slip and fall and be badly injured. And a final example would be, if proper safety equipment is not provided for certain tasks and the result is injury to a seaman.

Cindy Speaker: Terry, what should a seaman or cruise ship member do if they’re injured in one of these ways, and they believe that this doctrine of unseaworthiness is a significant factor?

Terry Bryant: Well, you know, we live in a day of great technological capability and that can come into play here. Most people now have cell phones. There are also camera phone, and it is also pretty common to have a phone or device that record audio and video. So for one thing, I recommend that you endeavor to capture images of any of these situations that you believe caused your vessel to be unseaworthy.

The other thing is that you need to talk with an experienced Jones Act lawyer who is going to help you understand your legal rights. One of the challenges of being injured at sea is it not always possible just to pick the phone and call an attorney. But once you return to land, I highly recommend that you do that. Most Jones Act lawyers will give you a free consultation, I know we do. So it just makes sense to take that step. This is a very complicated area of the law and it is not something that the average person is going to be able to handle on their own.

Cindy Speaker: Terry, if someone has specific questions or wants more information, how they can reach you?

Terry Bryant: They can call us at 1-800-444-5000 or they can find us on the web at www.terrybryant.com.

Cindy Speaker: Terry, thank you for your time.

Terry Bryant: Thank you, Cindy.

Cindy Speaker: Until next time. This is Cindy Speaker form Maritime Law TV.