Mississippi Offshore Injury Lawyer

Protecting a Seaman's Rights after a Maritime Injury

Working on a vessel at sea, transporting cargo along the Mississippi River or working as a longshoreman may present a number of hazards, particularly if your employer or the vessel owner is negligent in maintaining safe working conditions for the crew. Fortunately, maritime workers have certain legal rights when it comes to on-the-job accidents, injuries and illnesses. A Mississippi offshore injury lawyer can help you determine what rights you have under the Jones Act or other relevant maritime laws. For example, as a harbor worker or longshoreman, you may not be covered by the Jones Act but may be protected by the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act. If you lost a family member in an offshore accident, you may be able to file a claim under the Death on the High Seas Act. By reviewing every aspect of your case, a competent maritime injury attorney can accurately determine what benefits you may be entitled to receive.

Arnold & Itkin LLP is a maritime injury law firm that represents injured seamen, longshoremen and all maritime workers along the Gulf Coast and throughout the United States. We are particularly familiar with cases occurring off the coast of Mississippi and along the Mississippi River. We have included some basic information about the key ports in Mississippi.

Mississippi Ports

Maritime trade, which includes matters such as marine commerce and transportation of passengers and goods by sea, is important to Mississippi. The state has thousands of maritime workers and several ports that serve national and international maritime industries and companies. The ports are important to the success of maritime trade (e.g., offshore drilling, commercial fishing, and recreational boating and cruise industries), which boosts the economy of Mississippi. Those important port cities include the following:

Biloxi, Mississippi is a Southern port city located on the Gulf Coast. The City of Biloxi Port Division operates the Commercial Docking Facility docks, which provide berthing space for the local shrimp fleet. Biloxi also operates the Lighthouse Fishing Docks, a docking facility providing berthing space for the local and regional shrimp fleet on the Back Bay of Biloxi. The U.S. Coast Guard Station Gulfport provides maritime law enforcement and maritime safety services to Biloxi as well as performing search and rescue missions. In 2009, this group assisted Department of Marine Resources in Mississippi when a section of the Popps Ferry Bridge collapsed after being hit by the Cheryl Stegbauer, which was towing eight barges.
City of Aberdeen Port, Mississippi is on the west bank of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway and is one of six publicly owned ports on the waterway. In the City of Aberdeen's early history, the port played a major economic role. Aberdeen's maritime history as a thriving cotton port on the Tombigbee River has evolved into Aberdeen's current standing as "the chemical manufacturing capital of Northeast Mississippi." The City of Aberdeen Port, Mississippi is one of six publicly owned ports on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. Complete shipping facilities are available to business and industry at the Port of Aberdeen. The port's features include a concrete dock, a mooring cell, a 100-ton mobile crane, truck scales, a warehouse, and an outdoor storage area with an asphalt-paved surface. Occupants of the City of Aberdeen Port include the following: Jackson Wood Fiber; MIECO Terminal & Marketing; Taylor Propane Co.; Pearson Technologies; and Tom Soya Grain Co. Major roadways serving the City of Aberdeen Port include U.S. Highway 45, Mississippi Highway 25 and Mississippi Highway 145. Area railways include the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway, the Alabama and Gulf Coast Railway, and the Kansas City Southern Railway.
Gulfport, Mississippi is on the Gulf of Mexico. Mississippi State Port Authority oversees the Port of Gulfport. The 204-acre Port of Gulfport is a bulk, break-bulk, and container seaport with 6,000 feet of berthing space. Traditionally, Central America has been one of the main markets for the port with nearly three quarters of the imported cargo consisting of bananas. The Port of Gulfport is just 16 miles from shipping lanes and five nautical miles from the Intracoastal Waterway; ships can be in international waters within one hour of sailing from the harbor at Gulfport. Companies with regular scheduled liner services include Dole Fresh Fruit Company, Great White Fleet (Chiquita) and Crowley Maritime. The port has on-site inspection by U.S. Customs, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Coast Guard. The U.S. Coast Guard Station Gulfport provides maritime law enforcement and maritime safety services to Gulfport, as well as performing search and rescue missions. Maritime law enforcement missions include narcotics interdiction, fishery enforcement and to inspecting safety gear on commercial vessels.
Lowndes County Port, Mississippi is an intermodal facility with the capability to move cargo among barges, railroad cars and trucks. It is one of six publicly owned ports on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. The port is located with the Riverside Industrial Park on an island between the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway and the Tombigbee River in Columbus, Mississippi. Facilities at the Lowndes County Port include dock and mooring cells, a 100-ton crawler crane, a 40-ton overhead bridge crane with a covered two-barge berth unloading dock, a conveyor, a bulk hopper, rail and truck scales, a 68,000 square-foot warehouse and an outdoor storage area with an asphalt surface. The port's main use is barge-truck-rail transfer of general commodities. Private terminals within the port are operated by Southern Ionics for the receipt of liquid caustic soda, and Southern Wood Fibre for the shipment of wood chips. The rail connection is provided by a rail spur, which connects to Burlington Northern and Norfolk Southern Railways. Major area highways include US-45, US-82, MS-2, MS-50, MS-69 and MS-182. The Golden Triangle Regional Airport serves the residents and industry in the area.
Pascagoula, Mississippi, home of Mississippi's busiest port, is called the gateway to the Gulf Coast and is on the southeastern coast of Mississippi. Pascagoula is the premier city to buy, trade or sell ships, primarily due to the presence of Northrop Grumman, Mississippi's largest employer. Northrop Grumman is a shipbuilder of major surface ships for the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard and international navies, and for commercial vessels of all types. Other major employers utilizing Pascagoula's port include Chevron Pascagoula Refinery, Mississippi Phosphates Corp., First Chemical Corp., VT Halter Marine, Signal International, and Gulf LNG Energy, LLC. VT Halter Marine is also a shipbuilding company, producing both commercial ships such as tugboats, towboats and ocean going barge and tank units and defense ships for the U.S. Navy, Army, NASA, and the Air Force. The Port of Pascagoula is a major economic stimulus and has two harbors include public and private terminals with 42-foot and 38-foot-deep channels. More than 28 million tons of cargo move through the deepwater port each year. The Pascagoula Coast Guard is located at Pascagoula's Singing River Island facility, formerly Naval Station Pascagoula. As a maritime service unit within the Department of Homeland Security, the Coast Guard provides maritime safety and security to international waters and America's coasts, ports and inland waterways. One of the Coast Guard's main goals is to reduce crewmember deaths and injuries on U.S. commercial vessels in an inherently dangerous maritime environment.
Port Bienville, Mississippi, part of the Port Bienville Industrial Park, is owned and operated by the Hancock County Development Commission. Port Bienville Industrial Park is a shallow draft port at the southeastern portion of the state of Mississippi on the Gulf of Mexico. A 12-foot channel connects Port Bienville to the Mississippi Sound and the Intracoastal Waterway. The 3,600-acre industrial park and port boasts 18 industries and 5 barge berths offering cargo handling, drayage, towing, boat/ship repairs, fresh water, stevedoring, mooring assistance, divers, short-term dock space, pilots, heavy equipment sales and service and broker services. Major tenants at the port include Calgon Carbon Corporation, South Coast Electric General Electric Plastics Company, Manufab, Inc., Gulf Concrete, Solvay, PolyChemie, Wellman of Mississippi, Inc. and Stevedoring Services of America. Port Bienville, MS has its own railroad, the Port Bienville Shortline Railroad, which connects with CSX Transportation. The port's access road connects directly to U.S. Highway 90 about 10 miles from Interstate 10, and 18 miles from the intersection of Interstates 10, 12, and 59. Adjacent to the industrial park is the Stennis International Airport, a general aviation airport.
Port Itawamba, Mississippi is in the City of Fulton on the canal section of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway and is one of six publicly owned ports on the waterway. Port Itawamba is 20 miles east of Tupelo, northeast Mississippi's industrial center. With rail access to public docks, a barge hauler, plus a 60-ton bridge crane structure that extends 120 feet from the bank and 90 feet over the water, Port Itawamba provides efficient loading and unloading of barges. Port Itawamba encompasses a barge fleeting area, 1,200 additional feet of mooring and handling space, and a 150-acre tri-modal industrial park. Port Itawamba Industrial Park is just north of Port Itawamba on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, and adjacent to the Mississippian Railway connecting Fulton to Burlington Northern Santa Fe, a major Class I railroad.
Amory, Mississippi is home to the Port of Amory and is one of six ports on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. Armory, MS is served by US 278, Mississippi Highway 6, and Mississippi Highway 25. Rail transport is offered by BNSF Railway, the Alabama and Gulf Coast Railway, and the Mississippian Railway. The Monroe County Airport, which accommodates private planes and corporate jets, is just eight miles away from Amory. The Amory Port facilities include a bulkhead wood dock with steel pilings, a mooring cell, a 30-ton crane, an 834-ft. dock with loading heights of 10 and 20 ft. above water, and an open storage area with and asphalt surface. The port provides general freight transfer, including grain and lumber. Kinder Morgan operates a bulk material terminal at the Port of Amory; the company is one of the largest pipeline transporters and terminal operators in North America. The 200-acre Amory Port Industrial Park is adjacent to the port. Amory, and all of Monroe County, is thriving and on the rise with an extremely bright future. With Amory's maritime transport resources for the transport of raw materials to Mobile Bay in the Gulf of Mexico, new companies are moving into Monroe's County's industrial parks. Steel Development Company is planning to build a $175 million steel rebar production plant at the Amory Port Industrial Park on Waterway Drive.
West Point, Mississippi is home to a small river port, the Port of Clay County, and is one of six ports operating on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. The Port of Clay County, Mississippi consists of a notch on the waterway and berthing areas in the cutoff channel, where the port and a Tom Soya Grain Co. terminal operate. The port uses a portion of a former highway bridge approach to dock barges. The covered storage building has capacity for 5,000 tons of salt at the Tom Soya Grain Co. bulk wharf. The port features a 555-foot parallel barge slip with 10-barge stowage, a 60-foot drive-on steel bulkhead dock and a 120-foot loading and off-loading crane dock. General freight transfer of coal, salt, lime, gypsum rock, stone and fertilizer are the port's main uses. The main roadways serving Clay County, Mississippi are U.S. Highway 45, Mississippi Highway 25, Mississippi Highway 46, Mississippi Highway 47, and Mississippi Highway 50. The Golden Triangle Regional Airport serves the residents and industry in the area. The Kansas City Southern Rail Network serves the region.

Involving a Mississippi Offshore Injury Attorney

Though you may have rights as a seaman under the Jones Act or may be entitled to compensation under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, your ability to recover full benefits may be jeopardized if your claim is not properly handled. An offshore injury lawyer who is experienced with handling cases of this kind in Mississippi can advise you of your rights and options and can aggressively seek the full compensation to which you are entitled.

Contact a Mississippi offshore injury attorney at our firm today to learn more about maritime law and your rights as a seaman, harbor worker or longshoreman.