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Three Things You Should Know About Seaworthiness

Seaworthiness is an important maritime legal concept. Maritime employers have the legal responsibility to provide seamen with vessels that are reasonably safe. But the definition of seaworthy is different from the definition of ship safety; it is unique to each voyage, and it includes more than the safety of the actual boat.

It is important to understand the concept of seaworthiness if you’ve been hurt in a maritime accident or if you have concerns about your ship’s safety. Specifically:

  • Seaworthiness is a concept unique to each ship and each voyage. There isn’t a standard checklist to determine whether a vessel is seaworthy. Rather, seaworthiness depends on the passage of the vessel, the likely weather conditions, the length of the voyage, the type of cargo, the amount of cargo, and all of the other details that make each voyage unique.
  • Seaworthiness includes more than the physical vessel. Of course the ship itself must be able to withstand the normal perils of the sea in order to be considered seaworthy. But seaworthiness means more than that. It also means that the crew members must be properly trained and prepared for the voyage; it means that that all the equipment on the ship must be able to do the job that it is intended to do, and it means that all the parts must work together to ensure a reasonably safe passage.
  • Seaworthiness is not synonymous with safety. There are many dangers at sea. Many of these dangers can be mitigated if a vessel is seaworthy and reasonably safe for the perils that it might normally expect to encounter on its voyage. But threats such as piracy, sudden, unpredicted storms, and conditions on the ship (such as a virus outbreak) can endanger human lives even though the vessel is seaworthy.

Recovering Damages for a Maritime Injury
If you can prove that a vessel’s unseaworthiness was the direct and proximate cause of your injuries, then you may have a cause of action against your employer. It is important to contact an experienced New Jersey or New York maritime injury lawyer as soon as possible after your injury. Your New York or New Jersey maritime accident attorney will determine whether you have a claim and whether the claim is rightly brought as violation of the warranty of seaworthiness or on another basis.

Contact Hofmann & Schweitzer and talk to the experienced New Jersey and New York maritime lawyers who will work hard to get you the recovery you deserve if you’ve been hurt in a maritime accident.

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