Suffered a crush injury in a maritime accident? Contact the top maritime crush injury lawyer to seek justice and compensation.
Crush injuries aboard vessels, on the docks, or at shipyards can be some of the most severe a maritime worker will ever face. Falling cargo, malfunctioning equipment, closing hatches, and shifting loads can cause broken bones, damaged nerves, and tissue loss that may require multiple surgeries, amputation, or a lifetime of ongoing care. While you’re focused on healing, insurance companies may try to minimize your claim or rush a settlement before the true scope of your injury is known.
At the Law Offices of Charles D. Naylor, our maritime injury lawyers understand what it takes to prove the full impact of a crush injury. We work with orthopedic surgeons, trauma specialists, and vocational experts to document your medical needs, your lost earning capacity, and the toll this injury has taken on your daily life. With more than 100 years of combined experience representing injured maritime workers under the Jones Act, the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, and other maritime statutes, we know how to build a case that holds negligent vessel operators, employers, and equipment manufacturers accountable.
Get a free case evaluation and discover how our maritime crush injury attorneys can help you seek the compensation and justice you deserve.
What Is a Maritime Crush Injury?
A maritime crush injury occurs when a body part is compressed between two heavy objects, moving equipment, shifting cargo, or a vessel and a fixed structure. These accidents happen in seconds and produce some of the most severe trauma in any industry.
Common outcomes include:
- Traumatic amputations and degloving injuries
- Pelvic, spinal cord, and back fractures
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Severe internal organ damage
- Permanent disability
- Wrongful death
How Maritime Crush Injuries Happen
Mooring Line Snapback
A mooring line under tension can part without warning and recoil with lethal force. Deckhands and harbor workers standing inside snapback zones face this life-threatening risk on every mooring operation, a risk that proper crew training and procedure would significantly reduce.
Winch and Capstan Pinch Points
Unguarded winches and rotating drum equipment pull in hands, arms, and torsos in an instant. These accidents happen when machines lack safety guards, maintenance is deferred, or workers are placed next to moving parts without proper training.
Watertight Doors and Hatches
Heavy hydraulic doors, hatches, and cargo ramps crush workers when control systems fail or crew members miscommunicate. These incidents occur regularly on container ships, bulk carriers, and tankers operating without strict door-closing protocols.
Container and Cargo Handling
At the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach, longshoremen work beneath suspended containers, alongside moving forklifts, and near lashing equipment under extreme load. A single failure in any of these operations can be fatal.
Shipyard and Processing Line Hazards
Dry-dock blocks, crane loads, and heavy plate fabrication create constant crush hazards in shipyards. On fishing and processing vessels, conveyor rollers and machinery regularly catch and crush workers’ hands and limbs.
Your Legal Rights after a Maritime Crush Injury
The law that governs your case depends on your job title and where the injury occurred. Identifying the right claim, or the right combination, can mean the difference between a settlement that barely covers your bills and a recovery that accounts for your entire future. General personal injury attorneys unfamiliar with admiralty law miss these distinctions all the time.
Jones Act Negligence
Jones Act is a federal law allowing qualified seamen to sue their employers for negligence. The bar is intentionally low, even slight employer negligence is enough. Common grounds in crush cases include deferred equipment maintenance, understaffed crews, and supervisors who pushed operations forward in unsafe conditions.
Unseaworthiness
Seamen have a separate right to claim the vessel was unseaworthy, meaning the ship or its gear was not reasonably fit for its intended purpose. A broken winch guard, a malfunctioning hatch mechanism, or a crew inadequately trained for the task each form the basis of a standalone unseaworthiness claim, independent of any negligence finding.
Maintenance and Cure
If you are a seaman injured in service of a vessel, your employer owes you two no-fault benefits from the first day of your injury:
- Maintenance: A daily payment covering housing, utilities, and food while you are unable to work.
- Cure: Full medical expense coverage until you reach Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI), the point at which your condition has stabilized.
LHWCA Benefits
Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) is a federal no-fault system covering longshoremen, shipyard workers, and harbor workers. It provides medical care and wage replacement without requiring you to prove employer negligence.
905(b) Vessel Negligence
If you are covered by the LHWCA and a vessel’s negligence caused your crush injury, you can file a separate federal lawsuit under Section 905(b) of the Act. This claim opens the door to pain and suffering damages that LHWCA benefits alone cannot provide, a claim workers’ compensation attorneys without admiralty experience rarely bring.
Third-Party Liability
Many crush injuries involve defective equipment, a stevedoring contractor, or a terminal operator. We investigate every case to identify every liable party and pursue every available avenue of recovery. Not sure which law protects you? Call 24/7 at (310) 514-1200, there is no cost to find out.
What Compensation Can You Recover?
We work with medical specialists, life care planners, and economists to establish the full lifetime cost of your injury, not just what the bills look like today. Recoverable damages can include:
- Medical expenses: Emergency surgery, amputations, prosthetics, rehabilitation, and future care needs.
- Lost wages: All income lost to date and future earning capacity, including retraining costs if you cannot return to maritime work.
- Pain and suffering: Available under the Jones Act, unseaworthiness, and 905(b), but not under LHWCA benefits standing alone.
- Wrongful death: For families under the Jones Act or the Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA) when a crush injury proves fatal.
What to Do after a Maritime Crush Injury
The vessel owner’s insurer and defense lawyers begin building their case the moment an accident is reported. Here is what you need to do to protect yourself.
Get Medical Treatment
Seek care immediately and give your physician a complete, honest account of how every part of your body was injured. What gets documented now becomes evidence in your case.
Report the Incident in Writing
Notify your captain, supervisor, or terminal manager and ensure an official incident report is completed. Keep it factual, do not offer opinions about fault.
Preserve the Evidence
- Photograph the accident site, equipment involved, and your injuries as soon as you are physically able.
- Keep any damaged PPE, boots, gloves, or clothing as physical evidence.
- Collect witness contact information before the vessel leaves port.
Do Not Sign Company Forms or Give Recorded Statements
Your employer’s insurer will move quickly to get you to sign authorizations, give a recorded account, or accept an early settlement. These actions protect the company. Do not sign anything until a maritime attorney reviews it.
Call a Maritime Lawyer before Evidence Is Destroyed
Voyage data recorder (VDR) files, CCTV footage, and maintenance records are routinely overwritten. We send legal preservation letters immediately to stop critical evidence from being destroyed before your case is built.
Filing Deadlines for Maritime Crush Injury Claims
Maritime law sets hard deadlines. Miss one, and you permanently forfeit your right to recover.
| Claim | Deadline | Where Filed |
| Jones Act | 3 years from injury | State or federal court |
| Unseaworthiness | 3 years from injury | State or federal court |
| LHWCA | 30-day notice; 1-year claim | U.S. Dept. of Labor |
| 905(b) | 3 years from injury | Federal court |
| DOHSA (Wrongful Death) | 3 years from death | Federal court |
Cruise ship employment contracts often shorten these windows to one year and require claims in a specific federal court. If your injury occurred aboard a cruise vessel, contact us immediately.
Who We Represent in Maritime Crush Injury Cases
We are headquartered at 111 W. Ocean Blvd. in Long Beach, between the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach. We have fought for maritime workers on this waterfront for over 50 years, and we litigate cases nationwide.
We represent:
- Seamen and deckhands
- Longshoremen and harbor workers
- Shipyard and dry-dock workers
- Commercial fishermen and processors
- Offshore oil rig and platform workers
- Cruise ship crew and passengers
Pay Nothing Unless We Win Your Case
We handle every case on a full contingency basis, no upfront fees, no hourly charges, nothing out of pocket. We advance all case costs and collect nothing unless we win a recovery for you.
Start your free consultation at (310) 514-1200, our lines are open 24/7 for injured seamen, longshoremen, shipyard workers, and cruise passengers.
Maritime Crush Injury FAQ
Do I Have to See the Company Doctor after a Maritime Crush Injury?
No. While your employer may direct you to a company-approved physician, you have the right to seek independent medical care. An independent doctor provides an unbiased record that is often critical to the value of your claim.
Can a Longshore Worker Sue the Vessel after a Crush Injury?
Yes. Under Section 905(b) of the LHWCA, if a vessel’s negligence caused your injury, you can bring a federal lawsuit against the vessel owner, separate from and in addition to your LHWCA benefits.
What If the Company Claims I Caused the Crush Accident?
Employer blame-shifting is common after crush injuries. Under the Jones Act, your own partial negligence only reduces your recovery proportionally, it does not eliminate your right to compensation.
Does Maintenance and Cure Cover Prosthetics and Rehabilitation?
Yes. The “cure” benefit covers all reasonably necessary treatment, including prosthetics, physical therapy, and rehabilitation, through the point of Maximum Medical Improvement.
How Soon Do I Need to Report a Maritime Crush Injury?
Report to your employer immediately. Under the LHWCA, written notice must be given within 30 days. Under the Jones Act, delayed reporting gives employers grounds to dispute whether the injury occurred during vessel service.
What Evidence Matters Most in a Maritime Crush Injury Case?
Photographs of the scene, witness contact information, the damaged equipment, and the official incident report are all essential. We immediately pursue preservation of VDR data, CCTV footage, and maintenance logs before they are overwritten.
Speak with a Maritime Crush Injury Lawyer Today
For 50 years, we have stood for the workers who keep the waterfront running, the deckhands handling lines at midnight, the longshoremen unloading cargo in the rain, the shipyard workers no one thinks about until something goes wrong.
When a crush injury changes everything, you need a maritime attorney who has spent decades winning these exact cases against the defense firms your employer will hire.
Call our 24/7 maritime crush injury hotline at (310) 514-1200 or contact us online. You pay nothing unless we win your case.
