The Houston law offices of Vujasinovic & Beckcom, P.L.L.C. post blogs on maritime accidents and offshore injuries. If a maritime accident has left you injured or unable to work, contact a Jones Act lawyer from our law firm today. We represent people who have been injured at sea or offshore in the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean and throughout the Gulf Coast, Port of Houston and Galveston Bay.
In addition to handling Jones Act cases, many maritime law firms represent clients who were injured as commercial divers or while diving on an excursion.
A police officer who was part of a dive rescue team was training when his equipment failed twice, causing him to drown. The manufacturer is under fire.
Plaintiff alleges that he was afflicted by a decompression illness after diving down to 240 feet while on a commercial dive for Triton Diving Services.
The company is accused of negligence for furnishing an unsafe workplace, unsafe equipment and an improperly manned vessel during commercial diving operations.
Crew members from the cucumber boat Island Dancer witnessed their vessel’s diver break the surface in Chester Bay, take off his mask, and then quickly sink back under the surface.
A dive master marked Daniel Cardock as being present on the roster two times on a Southern California group scuba dive excursion. There was just one problem. He was already missing.
The scuba diving industry has implemented required redundancy and visual verification to count divers following the case of a man who drifted for several hours off of California when he became separated from his group.
Maintenance and cure refers to a maritime employer’s responsibility to pay for living expenses and medical bills. An injured diver, you may be considered a seaman and covered under the Jones Act.
Commercial diving can be dangerous and may lead to permanent brain damage. If you are a diver who has been injured in a dive accident, you may be entitled to compensation.
Diving companies have been known to hire crewmembers who lack the appropriate experience and skills. Even worse, these companies don’t always provide adequate training, which could lead to a serious diving accident.
Many commercial diving accidents can be avoided. If you or a loved one has been injured in a diving accident, contact a diving injury lawyer at 713.224.7800 or 877.724.7800 today.
There are many factors that can lead to a commercial diving accident. If you or a loved one has been injured in an offshore accident, contact a Houston maritime attorney at the Law Offices of Vujasinovic & Beckcom, P.L.L.C. at 713.224.7800 or 877.724.7800 for legal advice.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld a lower court verdict in favor of the owner of a Hawaii whale watching vessel after a diver suffered ear damage during a dive.
Christopher MacDonald brought the suit against Kahikolu, Ltd. MacDonald, while working as a lifeguard and deckhand aboard the Frogman II, was also an experienced diver and would sometimes conduct free dives as part of the job.
During a dive down to 46 feet while retrieving a mooring line, MacDonald damaged his left ear while equalizing pressure during the descent.
He also suffered dizziness and permanent hearing loss.
MacDonald sought damages under the so-called "Pennsylvania Rule," which is the standard of Admiralty Law. Under the Pennsylvania Rule, the vessel owner is held liable if a vessel fails to follow regulations aimed at preventing accident or injury.
These regulations generally apply to navigational accidents and collisions.
MacDonald claimed the vessel did not have a required diving operations manual on board.
However, The Court sided with Kahikolu, citing that this requirement only applied to commercial divers-i.e. those wearing scuba gear-and not free divers
A lack of gear is not the only way free diving differs from commercial diving. There are also different protections under the law.
Under admiralty law, commercial divers are defined as those donning self contained breathing apparatus, also known as scuba gear. Free divers do not fall into this category.
Under the so-called "Pennsylvania Rule," the ship owner is presumed to be responsible if a vessel fails to follow regulations aimed at preventing accident or injury.
These regulations generally apply to navigational accidents and collisions.
In a case recently decided in Federal Court, the owner of a whale watching boat in Hawaii was found not liable for the hearing damage suffered by a deck hand during a 46 foot free dive. The diver sued his employer under the Pennsylvania Law, citing the lack of a diving operations manual on the vessel.
However, the Court ruled that the requirement for an operations manual only applied to commercial-and not free-divers.
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