Unseaworthiness Claims Under Maritime Law Explained | BoatLaw, LLP

Описание: BoatLaw, LLP Partner Doug Williams dives deeper into the subject of unseaworthiness claims under maritime law.
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Transcription:
the injured Seaman's second cause of action arising from the common law is known as unseaworthiness or breach of the warranty of seaworthiness a vessel owner and the vessel in rem owe seamen a non-delegable and absolute duty to provide a vessel that is reasonably fit for its intended purpose one that is seaworthy the warranty extends to the vessel itself and its impertances equipment its gear unseaworthiness is a species of strict liability that means that the seaman need not establish the vessel owner had notice of the vessel's defect that caused the harm the seaman will have to show that The Vessel owner had notice of the defect in order to Prevail on the cause of action so the unseaworthiness doctrine is in a sense a species of liability without fault because the seaman need only show that the condition existed and not that the vessel owner or the employer was aware of the condition as a general matter unseaworthiness has to do with defects in the vessel The Vessel itself the vessel's equipment now negligent acts such as if an engineer spills hydraulic fluid if that hydraulic fluid remains on the deck long enough what was a negligent Act can turn into unseaworthy condition the warranty of seaworthiness extends Beyond just the condition of the vessel itself there are situations where a vessel may have an unsafe work practice unreasonably dangerous one for accomplishing its Mission and if the Seaman's injuries result from this unsafe practice he may well have a claim for unseaworthiness a vessel's crew and officers can be unseaworthy as well if a crew member is incompetent and that fellow crew member's incompetence leads to injury then that may well form the basis for a claim for unseaworthiness if a vessel doesn't have enough crew members to perform the work insufficient crew will also form the basis for an unseaworthiness action there are situations where a assault by a fellow crew member may lead to a successful unseaworthiness cause of action if you can show that the co-worker perpetrating the assault was unseaworthy and had an inhumane disposition in order to Prevail on an unseaworthiness claim against the vessel owner or the vessel the seaman need show that there was a defective in the vessel that was the proximate cause of the injury the damages available on the unseaworthiness cause of action include past and future medical expenses past and future wage loss and past and future pain and suffering and loss of life's enjoyment punitive damages are recoverable for failure to pay maintenance cure and sense both maintenance and cure and unseaworthiness are judge made doctrines the idea was that they could both give rise to punitive damages in a recent case of Dutra versus batterton the Supreme Court of the United States held that you know damages are not available for aggravated unseaworthiness

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