Offshore Accident Lawyer (Overview: All You Need To Know)
What is an offshore accident lawyer?
What are the different types of offshore accidents?
How can you legally claim damages if you suffered an offshore accident?
What is an offshore accident lawyer
In the United States, an offshore accident lawyer or offshore accident attorney is a type of lawyer specialized in maritime laws, particularly relating to damages caused resulting from offshore accidents.
Offshore accident lawyers have expertise in recovering damages or getting compensatory damages for those or family of those who have suffered injuries while working as a maritime employee or harbor worker, a passenger on a cruise ship or other maritime vessel.
You can refer to an offshore accident lawyer in different ways:
- Cruise ship accident lawyer
- Cruise ship lawyers
- Offshore injury lawyer
- Offshore injury attorney
- Offshore lawyer
- Offshore injury claim attorney
- Cruise ship injury attorney
- Offshore attorney
No matter how you refer to an offshore accident lawyer, he or she is a legal professional trained in legally pursuing maritime businesses, insurance companies, governments or other organizations in the event of an offshore accident to recover compensatory damages for their negligent acts or omissions, gross negligence, willful misconduct or other.
An offshore accident lawyer typically supports his or her clients by:
- Providing legal advice relating to any type of offshore accidents on a ship, rig, platform or vessel
- Evaluating, investigating and assessing the legal recourse or cause of claim such as the unseaworthiness of a ship or the employer, shipowner or operator’s negligence
- Determining the applicable statute of limitation to file an offshore accident lawsuit
- Determining the recoverable damages for physical injuries or emotional distress
- Filing a lawsuit against the shipowner, employer, cruise ship operator or another party responsible for the damages
- Handling the actual lawsuit and legal proceedings
- Deposing the relevant witnesses, reviewing deposition transcripts, gathering the proper witnesses and handling what happens after a deposition
- Evaluating the need for an expert witness, medical report or other evaluations
- Handling the trial and the hearing on the merits of the case
- Handling out-of-court negotiations for possible lawsuit settlement
An offshore accident attorney has very specialized experience and skills in dealing with specific laws such as the Jones Act, the Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act, maritime laws, or applicable common law legal theories.
What are the different types of offshore accidents?
An offshore accident is any type of injury caused to a person working as a maritime employee, harbor worker, or a person on a maritime vessel.
There are many types of maritime vessels out there and many types of offshore accidents possible such as:
- Cruise ships
- Oil rigs
- Transportation boats
- Tugboats
- Barges
- Shipping boats
- Recreational boards
- Watercrafts
- Riverboats
- Platforms
- Trawlers
- Crew boats
- Jack-up rigs
- Shrimp boats
- Oyster boats
Some vessels provide for a riskier environment than others.
However, accidents can happen on any of them for a number of reasons.
Typically, one or many people can be injured as a result of:
- Human error
- Distracted maritime workers
- Negligence of the employees working on the vessel
- Fire on the vessel
- Falling objects
- Equipment failures
- Electric hazards
- Deck accidents
- Lack of proper safety standards
- Lack of proper safety protocols
- Use of cell phone
- Taking on fuel
- Loading and unloading cargo
- Vessel accidents or collision
- Diving accidents
- Dredging accidents
- Explosions
- Crane failures
- Ventilation system malfunctions
- Inadequate training
- Unqualified workers
- Lack of equipment maintenance
- Chemical accidents
According to a study from the U.S. Minerals Management Service, a good percentage of offshore accidents are actually caused due to human error.
Let’s look at some of the most common types of offshore accidents.
Offshore fire accident
Offshore file accidents can be caused by faulty pipelines, lack of proper maintenance, poor fuel storage, the collision between vessels, poor manipulation or storage of flammable material or even on oil rigs caused by the drilling of combustible resources.
For example:
In 2010, an important explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig resulted in 11 deaths and many injuries.The Deepwater Horizon oil rig accident was primarily caused due to a failed blowout preventer.Author
Fire accidents on an offshore vessel can cause significant physical injuries and damage to the individuals on board the vessel and result in potentially major property damage.
0 Comments