The crane that injured me belonged to the platform, not my employer’s vessel. Can I still recover?
Yes. Unseaworthiness claims can be brought against the vessel or platform owner regardless of whether they are your employer. If the crane was in a defective or improperly maintained condition and that condition caused your injury, the owner bears absolute liability under the unseaworthiness doctrine — without any requirement to prove they knew about the problem. You can pursue Jones Act claims against your employer simultaneously with unseaworthiness claims against the platform operator.
I was a rigger on deck when the crane dropped a load on me. Who is responsible?
Multiple parties may be responsible: the crane operator’s employer, the vessel or platform owner (unseaworthiness), and potentially a third-party contractor if the lift was being directed by a contractor. Riggers working in the load path without an established exclusion zone, or without being notified of the lift, have strong claims based on inadequate communication and failure to follow lift safety protocols. These cases require rapid evidence preservation before the crane logs and maintenance records are altered.
The crane operator says he warned me to clear the area. Does that affect my claim?
Possibly, but it does not eliminate it. Under the Jones Act’s comparative fault system, any negligence by the employer, regardless of worker contribution, is sufficient for liability. Even if a jury finds you partially at fault for failing to clear the area, your damages are reduced by your fault percentage, not eliminated. And if the operator’s warning was inadequate, given over radio rather than confirmed face-to-face, or given in conditions where you could not have reasonably heard it, the fault allocation will reflect that.
