Texas Maritime Law

Houston, Texas, the fourth largest city in the U.S., is home base to some of the largest corporations in the world, corporations which maintain all types of maritime vessels throughout the Gulf. The waterways allow a huge amount of economic trade off the coast of Houston, helping to grow and maintain the city’s economy.

President Woodrow Wilson officially dedicated and opened the Port of Houston on November 10, 1914. Construction took place from 1909 up until its opening. Today the Port of Houston Authority, a sub-agency of the state of Texas, operates the Port of Houston which has overtaken Galveston’s port in scope and significance and opened shipping channels across the Gulf of Mexico. The Port of Houston today, the 15 busiest in the world, is the single busiest U.S. port in terms of foreign tonnage handled and the second busiest in terms of total tonnage. More than 220 million tons of cargo and more than 7,700 vessels navigated through the Port of Houston in 2009 alone. Over 785,000 jobs are generated by the Houston Ship Channel, and the shipping industry generates approximately $118 billion in revenue for the state of Texas.

The Jones Act was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1920. The Jones Act is a federal law, covering seamen injured while performing their jobs. Prior to 1920, no laws were written which were designed to protect seamen and their families in the event they were injured or killed on the job. Seamen were finally able to receive more immediate and predictable benefits when they were injured once the Jones Act was passed. Texas workers, under Texas workers’ compensation laws, are, while collecting workers’ compensation benefits, prohibited, when injured, from suing their employers. This is not the case under the Jones Act.

Once a seaman files a Jones Act claim, the injured seaman must show that the employer was negligent and/or that the vessel was unseaworthy or not fit for its intended purpose. An injured seaman is entitled to what is termed maintenance and cure. Maintenance and cure is not a statutory remedy as is workers’ compensation; an employer may be held liable for punitive damages under the Jones Act for denial of payment of maintenance and cure benefits. The Jones Act is of tremendous benefit to Texas maritime attorneys who wish to successfully pursue damages for injuries suffered by seamen and by offshore workers.

• Masters of vessels: captains, first mates, chief mates, second and third mates, relief captains, etc.
• Members of the crew of vessels: deckhands, leadmen engineers, wiremen, tanker men, etc.
• Other employees who hold a substantial connection to the vessel in the performance of their assigned work activities
• Individuals who spend more than 30 percent of their time on a vessel involved in navigation (multiple vessels if commonly owned)
• The employee/seaman must work on a vessel operating on navigable waterways
• The vessel(s) must be engaged in interstate commerce.

In cases in which employees/seamen work on a variety of different vessels or move among vessels not commonly owned employees/seamen are protected under either the Longshoremen or Harbor Workers Compensation Act or under General Maritime Law. Courts typically interpret seamen status broadly under the Jones Act. They have traditionally included within the classification a variety of employees such as waiters, chefs, cooks, entertainers, card dealers, and other staff. Under the Jones Act seamen may recover money for medical bills and lost wages, and family members may recover the same if a loved one dies in a maritime accident and in addition may recover damages including money for end-of-life expenses, lost future wages, pain and suffering, etc. Unfortunately, many tragic deaths on barges, tow boats, tankers, ferries, etc. are caused by unsafe working conditions which could have been prevented. Fatal maritime accidents can be caused by a variety of things including a vessel’s contact with a fixed object, a vessel’s collision with a recreational boat, equipment failures, fires, explosions, groundings, electrocutions, etc.

• Inland and ocean-going vessels transport nearly 80 million passengers and over one billion tons of cargo yearly.
• United States maritime law covers more than 44,000 vessels from passenger ferries to tankers to inland agricultural tows, lake dredges, etc.
• 124,000 U.S. workers including 80,000 crew members on vessels rely on maritime trade for their livelihoods.
• $15 billion each year is contributed to the U.S. economy including $4 billion in wages paid to American workers.
• Maritime trade amounts to 3.3 percent of the nation’s gross national product (GNP) or more than $222 billion.
• According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, commercial fishing is the nation’s most deadly occupation accounting for more deaths than coal mining, logging, or piloting planes.
• Ever since the year 1996, the number of recreational boats involved in accidents with commercial vessels has steadily risen.
• 11 percent of maritime fatalities involve barges
• Tugboats and towboats have consistently ranked as the number one type of marine vessel involved in incidents since 1994.

The term maritime vessel has been defined by the United States Congress as “every description of watercraft or other artificial contrivance used, or capable of being used, as a means of transportation on water.” The U.S. Supreme Court has defined a maritime vessel as “all navigable structures intended for transportation.” According to admiralty law, the greatest test for the classification, maritime vessel, would be to say the term vessel is applied to floating structures capable of transporting something over waterways.” Considering the large number of vessels navigating U.S. waterways at any given moment, it comes as no surprise that so many maritime incidents occur without being recorded in the national news.

If you have been injured in a Texas maritime incident of boating accident, the personal injury attorneys at the Wyly Law Firm, P.C. can provide some solutions.

Call us (713) 574-7034 or fill out our online contact form.

These Hubs are provided for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice. Professional legal counsel should be sought for specific advice relevant to your circumstances.