The Jones Act and general maritime law provide a means for injured seamen and other maritime workers to seek financial compensation from their employers for on-the-job injuries. These laws may cover both injuries that are caused by negligence and those that stem from the inherent hazards associated with offshore work. Unfortunately, for a worker at Port Fourchon or who works on any vessel traveling to or from this Louisiana seaport, seeking compensation by way of a maritime claim can be complex.
This is why we highly recommend involving an attorney if you or someone you love was injured in any type of offshore accident. You may have the right to compensation, but your ability to recover a fair settlement or win a just jury award may be limited without a lawyer by your side.
A maritime injury lawyer at Arnold & Itkin LLP can provide you with the legal representation that you need to recover maximum monetary damages. This may include money for room and board, medical expenses, lost wages, and possibly non-economic damages such as pain and suffering. The medical bills and other losses and problems caused by serious offshore injuries can be considerable. Recovering compensation may be one's only opportunity being able to rebuild and move on after such traumatic injuries.
Port Fourchon, Louisiana is in Lafourche Parish, south of the Intracoastal Waterway. Port Fourchon revolves around the seaport, Port Fourchon, which is the equivalent of a small city. A small maritime community, also called Fourchon, is located at the point where the Bayou Lafourche meets the Gulf of Mexico.
The bayou, especially near Port Fourchon, is a busy waterway with boat traffic from offshore oil-related vessels, pleasure crafts, shrimp boats, and oyster boats. Port Fourchon is best known as the major staging area for deep-water oil exploration and production. The Greater Lafourche Port Commission exercises jurisdiction over Lafourche Parish south of the Intracoastal Waterway, including the seaport.
Port Fourchon's strategic location provides a competitive advantage as a supply base for oil-and-gas related activities in the Central Gulf of Mexico. These activities range from supply boats used to service oil and gas rigs to the maintenance and repair of mobile drilling rigs. Currently, more than 600 offshore platforms are located within a 40-mile radius of Port Fourchon, demonstrating its location's importance to the industry.
Not all maritime activity in Port Fourchon, Louisiana is centered on the energy industry. Port Fourchon, along with Grand Isle and Venice, is in an area known as the Tuna Fishing Capital of the World. Port Fourchon is both a commercial fishing and a recreational fishing haven. Recent increased activity in offshore deep-water oil and gas exploration and development in the Gulf of Mexico have brought new economic growth to Port Fourchon and the surrounding communities. However, the demands of recent growth on the region's infrastructure have meant new challenges for the port and the local community.
Working on offshore oil rigs is a dangerous job. Since 2001, there have been 69 offshore deaths, 1,349 injuries and 858 fires and explosions in the Gulf, according to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE). It only takes a split second for a serious offshore accident to occur, leaving a worker on an oil platform, jack-up rig or other maritime vessel catastrophically injured and facing an entirely changed future. It is up to an injured worker and/or his or her family to seek legal counsel from a maritime attorney who can look to recover the financial damages to which the worker may be entitled.
Our firm represents seamen, longshoremen, harbor workers, shipyard workers, and all other types of maritime workers in the Port Fourchon area and throughout Louisiana. We have the skill and resources to handle cases related to explosions and fires, falls, deck accidents and even fatalities.
Do not hesitate to enlist the help of a highly-skilled attorney who can uphold your rights as a maritime industry worker. Contact Arnold & Itkin so we can help determine your options.
Arnold & Itkin represented nearly a third of the crewmembers injured in the Deepwater Horizon explosion.
Because maritime law is so complex and so complicated, it is crucial that you work with an attorney who has an in-depth understanding of how it works and who has proven themselves in similar cases before.
