Posted By Arnold & Itkin LLP
The maritime industry is filled with words that aren’t used in everyday language. Building upon centuries of tradition, nautical words have been transferred from one generation of workers to the next. This means that everyday words used by offshore workers might not be familiar to many other people—including those who are new to the industry. One word that might not be familiar to non-offshore ...
Continue Reading
Posted By Arnold & Itkin LLP
Arnold & Itkin Attorneys Kurt Arnold , Caj Boatright , Roland Christensen , Joseph McGowin , and Claire Traver recently filed a case against Transocean and Beacon for leaving the crew of the Deepwater Asgard directly in the path of a hurricane. By doing this, these companies subjected the crew of this vessel, including our client, to extremely dangerous, life-threatening, and traumatizing ...
Continue Reading
Posted By Arnold & Itkin LLP
Arnold & Itkin is currently working to help a deckhand injured while working on a towboat on the Mississippi River. Our client collapsed when he was told to lift two heavy spools of wire without proper assistance. His employer thought our client’s incident and suffering was funny, but he now has two herniated discs. This man relied on his body to take care of himself and his family, but now his ...
Continue Reading
Posted By Arnold & Itkin LLP
In the past, we’ve discussed how commercial diving jobs such as underwater welding might be among some of the most dangerous in the offshore industry. However, it’s difficult to confirm this because the most recent data on commercial diving death rates covers 1997 to 1989. That data, released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found that commercial divers had about five deaths each year. ...
Continue Reading
Posted By Arnold & Itkin LLP
Arnold & Itkin recently filed suit on behalf of a towboat deckhand who was injured while making tow on the Mississippi River. His employer had him carrying heavy spools across barges that lacked step downs and nonskid, and our client slipped with a 100-pound spool over his shoulder, severely injuring his back . As we see too often, our client’s bosses discouraged him from seeking medical treatment ...
Continue Reading
Posted By Arnold & Itkin LLP
The Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) provides benefits for maritime workers injured on the job that are not covered under state workers’ compensation law and do not qualify as a seaman under the Jones Act . LHWCA is a federal statute similar to state workers’ compensation programs in that the LHWCA bars injured employees from filing a lawsuit against their employer. However, ...
Continue Reading
Posted By Arnold & Itkin LLP
Offshore injury attorneys at Arnold & Itkin filed suit in New Orleans federal court on behalf of a compressor technician injured on an offshore platform. Our client sustained injuries to his knee and back when the floor on the platform gave way. He’s lucky to have survived. But he now faces uncertainty about his future because he can no longer do the job he’s worked so hard to gain expertise in ...
Continue Reading
Posted By Arnold & Itkin LLP
Dredging vessels make the waterways of the United States navigable. As the offshore industry’s workhorses, they make the billions of dollars generated by it practical and possible. From shipping operations to oil and gas excavation, dredgers make important work possible and, on each vessel, there’s a crew of workers who make everything possible. Onshore, construction work is one of the most ...
Continue Reading
Posted By Arnold & Itkin LLP
Arnold & Itkin’s Jones Act lawyers are representing a man who is suffering because of the careless behavior of his employer. Our client sustained debilitating injuries caused by understaffing, a lack of proper equipment, and the unreasonable demands of his employer. No one should find themselves injured and unable to work because their employer neglected safety. When employers cut corners to save ...
Continue Reading
Posted By Arnold & Itkin LLP
The Jones Act was made to protect offshore workers. It was passed in 1920 and is officially known as the Merchant Marine Act. This important law protects workers from preventable accidents by giving them the ability to hold responsible parties liable should one occur. Before the Jones Act, workers could only seek compensation for their immediate medical needs and their cost of living until maximum ...
Continue Reading
Posted By Arnold & Itkin LLP
The maritime industry has one of the oldest laws designed to protect injured workers. The concept of maintenance and cure means that injured seamen must receive compensation for living costs (maintenance) and for medical care until they are healed as much as possible (cure). Notably, maintenance and cure doesn’t require either party to prove fault—it only requires the injured party to have been ...
Continue Reading
Posted By Arnold & Itkin LLP
Attorneys Kurt Arnold , Kyle Findley , and Adam Lewis filed a lawsuit today on behalf of a man who sustained serious injuries when heavy equipment fell on his leg as he was working aboard the DSV Kelly Ann Candies, a commercial diving vessel . The equipment knocked the man over and pinned him knees-down to the deck of the ship. Injuries like our client’s hinder the ability to earn a living, enjoy ...
Continue Reading
Posted By Arnold & Itkin LLP
When you’re on an offshore rig, the dangers that exist on them become obvious. Miles off the coast, workers on offshore rigs deal with dangerous materials, turbulent conditions, and the hazards that come with using heavy equipment. So, just how dangerous is working on an oil rig? How Often Are Offshore Oil Rig Workers Killed? As mentioned above, offshore drilling platforms are filled with dangers ...
Continue Reading
Posted By Arnold & Itkin LLP
Arnold & Itkin Attorneys Kurt Arnold , Caj Boatright , Roland Christensen , Joseph McGowin , and Claire Traver are seeking justice for a Jones Act seaman who died as a result of his employer’s failure to provide him with reasonable medical care. The company ignored the worker’s need for medical attention and died before his life could be saved. Offshore companies have a duty to take care of the ...
Continue Reading
Posted By Arnold & Itkin LLP
When it comes to the dangers of offshore work , a few industries come to mind. Many people refer to the risks faced by offshore oil rig workers while others immediately think of the treacherous seas that fishermen face. However, there is one dangerous job that makes the maritime industry functional, and that isn’t talked about as frequently as others: working on a tugboat. Tugboats are the ...
Continue Reading
Posted By Arnold & Itkin LLP
According to CBS News , a fire suppression system on the USS Bonhomme Richard was being worked on and could not be activated to help fight the fire that broke out early Sunday morning. The vessel was docked in San Diego, CA for maintenance. As of Tuesday morning, crews from the Navy as civilian firefighters are still battling the blaze. The Navy believes that the fire started in a lower storage ...
Continue Reading
Posted By Arnold & Itkin LLP
A Sunday morning explosion and fire injured 21 people on board a ship at Naval Base San Diego. According to military officials, the incident started just before 9 a.m. on USS Bonhomme Richard. Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet spokesman Mike Raney confirmed that 17 sailors and 4 civilians required hospitalization. About the USS Bonhomme Richard Fire The cause of the blaze is still under ...
Continue Reading
Posted By Arnold & Itkin LLP
Recently, Shell revealed that it had evacuated workers because of a COVID-19 outbreak on one of its seven oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. The company airlifted nine workers to shore after they showed symptoms of contracting the coronavirus. According to ABC , Shell started testing its workers for the virus before sending them to rigs on May 20. The first infection of a Gulf of Mexico Shell ...
Continue Reading
Posted By Arnold & Itkin LLP
In 2017, the Jones Act received criticism for how it affected the people of Puerto Rico. After the island was devastated by Hurricane Maria, the people of Puerto Rico had no power, no infrastructure, destroyed homes, and ruined agriculture. Critics of the Jones Act pointed out that the Jones Act wasn’t being helpful for recovery efforts for Puerto Rico. Specifically, they said that the law made it ...
Continue Reading
Posted By Arnold & Itkin LLP
The tugboat accident lawyers at Arnold & Itkin filed a lawsuit against Ascend Performance and IntraTug as a result of serious back injuries sustained to their client. While working as a lead deckman for IntraTug, he was instructed to perform unsafe work by his captain. While performing this work, he had to use a dock that was owned and maintained by Ascend Performance. Upon stepping on the dock, ...
Continue Reading
Posted By Arnold & Itkin LLP
There’s a lot to worry about if you’re an offshore worker during the COVID-19 pandemic. As if falling oil prices weren’t enough stress for offshore oil rig workers, they now must face the COVID-19 pandemic on vessels where space is rare. Close quarters, long work hours, and being far from medical care are just a few of the challenges that make a virus outbreak on an offshore oil rig worrisome. ...
Continue Reading
Posted By Arnold & Itkin LLP
In early February, the dangers of a COVID-19 outbreak onboard cruise ships were made abundantly clear when authorities quarantined Carnival’s Diamond Princess at a dock in Yokohama, Japan. All 3,711 people aboard the ship were stuck in Tokyo Bay for 27 days. By mid-March, 712 passengers had tested positive for coronavirus. By mid-April, fourteen of those on board had died from the virus. The ship ...
Continue Reading
Posted By Arnold & Itkin LLP
Last Friday, a 41-foot supply boat overturned on the Neches River south of Port Neches. The incident killed one of the three passengers who were on the boat when it capsized. According to reports, the victim and two other workers from Carlsen’s Mooring Service were bringing cleaning supplies to a ship offshore. Carlsen’s Mooring Service is a company that supplies Port Arthur refineries and all ...
Continue Reading
Posted By Arnold & Itkin LLP
Our firm has previously reported on the serious health crisis Carnival was facing in March. The Diamond Princess, the Grand Princess, and at least five other ships have all been host to serious COVID-19 outbreaks—more than any other cruise operator in the world. At one point, one of its ships had a larger cluster of coronavirus cases ever seen outside of mainland China. The result is staggering—in ...
Continue Reading
Posted By Arnold & Itkin LLP
When looking at the history of the offshore oil exploration and extraction industry, it’s essential to look at some of the moments that have defined the industry—even if they’re bad moments. Examining oil rig disasters in history helps us learn about what went wrong. What changes could a company have made to its operations? What methods should oil rigs around the world adopt to stop another ...
Continue Reading
