Suppose you were hurt in a shipboard or fishing boat accident and have a Jones Act (or Unseaworthiness) claim. You message your girlfriend from the hospital and tell her all about it – there’s a long thread of detailed messages, you telling what happened, maybe saying...
admiralty law
Saving Taxes on Boat Purchases
Last month's column addressed the question of whether to state register or federally document a boat, and I observed that federally documenting a boat would not typically allow the owner to avoid paying Maine sales and use tax. But there is a way, entirely legal...
Crew Agreements? Yes, crew agreements.
Yes, crew agreements. Federal law requires that the owner of a fishing vessel sailing from a U.S. port and of 20 gross tons or over must have a written employment agreement with each seaman. The agreement must state the effective dates of the agreement, and “the terms...
Jones Act Negligence, Unseaworthiness, and Other Seamen’s Personal Injury Remedies
Hurt on land, working for some land-bound contractor, factory or shop, and chances are you will look to worker’s compensation law to pay for your care and lost wages. Working at a shipyard, and your relief comes in the form of the federal Longshore and Harborworkers...
The Nuts and Bolts of Maritime Liens
A maritime lien gives a provider of fuel, repair services etc. an automatic lien on the ship the services were provided to. The lien allows the provider to seize the ship and sell it in satisfaction of the lien and the costs of sale. By “automatic” I mean the lien...
Salvage Claims & Awards Under Admiralty Law
I am tending traps in my lobster boat one blustery fall day, and as I watch an expensive yacht run up on a ledge. The yacht backs away from the ledge, then loses power and begins to flood. Despite the menacing rocks I come alongside, and the passengers clamber onto my...