Suffered an eye injury on a vessel, at a shipyard, or aboard a cruise ship? Contact a maritime eye injury lawyer to seek compensation.
A grinding wheel spark, an unshielded welding arc, a splash of caustic bilge cleaner, or a snapped mooring line can end a maritime career in an instant. Eye injuries suffered aboard vessels, on the docks, in shipyards, and on cruise ships carry consequences that reach well beyond the emergency room, from the loss of a U.S. Coast Guard medical certificate to permanent disqualification from the only trade a worker has ever known.
The Law Offices of Charles D. Naylor represents injured seamen, longshoremen, shipyard workers, commercial fishermen, and cruise ship passengers.
We work exclusively in admiralty and maritime law from our office at the Port of Long Beach, and we litigate nationwide for clients bound by cruise passage contracts and offshore employment agreements. Serious eye injuries demand attorneys who understand both the ophthalmological realities of vision loss and the federal statutes that govern your recovery.
If you or a family member suffered an eye injury on the water, at a terminal, in a shipyard, or aboard a cruise vessel, contact us at (310) 514-1200 for a free, confidential consultation.
Who Qualifies for a Maritime Eye Injury Claim?
Federal maritime law protects seamen, longshoremen, shipyard workers, offshore oil rig workers, commercial fishermen, and cruise ship passengers and crew from the financial devastation a serious eye injury can cause. These workers fall under admiralty law, a distinct body of federal law with rights that go far beyond ordinary workers’ compensation.
We focus exclusively on admiralty law and have handled a wide range of maritime eye injury claims, so we know how to build a case to pursue full compensation for you. Call (310) 514-1200, free, 24/7.
What to Do After a Maritime Eye Injury
Taking prompt steps after an eye injury can help preserve evidence and protect your claim.
Report the Injury Right Away
Report your injury to your supervisor or the vessel’s officer in charge as soon as possible. The Jones Act does not set a specific notice deadline, but prompt written notice protects your claim. The Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) requires written notice within 30 days for dock and shipyard workers. Any delay gives employers grounds to challenge your claim. Jones Act
Choose Your Own Ophthalmologist
Maritime law gives you the right to choose your own treating physician, including ophthalmologists and retina specialists, rather than the doctor your employer provides. Company-appointed physicians answer to the company, not to your medical needs.
Preserve Evidence and Avoid Recorded Statements
Photograph the accident site, any defective equipment, and nearby eyewash stations. Keep all damaged personal protective equipment, including cracked or missing safety glasses.
Do not give a recorded statement to your employer’s insurance adjuster before speaking with a maritime attorney, it will be used to minimize or deny your claim.
Common Maritime Eye Injuries
A single piece of defective equipment or a missing safety guard can cause permanent vision loss in seconds. We handle claims involving:
- Corneal Abrasions and Foreign Bodies: Metal shavings, rust, sandblasting grit, and wire brush fragments that enter the eye during ship repair or dry-dock operations
- Chemical Burns: Contact with bilge cleaners, hydraulic fluid, degreasers, and ammonia refrigerants used on fishing vessels, alkali chemicals are especially destructive because they continue damaging tissue long after the initial exposure
- Arc Eye (Welder’s Flash): A corneal burn from unprotected exposure to ultraviolet radiation during welding, one of the most frequent and preventable injuries in shipyards
- Blast Injuries: Retinal detachment or complete blindness resulting from engine room explosions, fuel-line ruptures, or offshore confined-space incidents
- Blunt Trauma: Orbital fractures, lacerations, and severe bruising from falling cargo, equipment strikes, or the violent recoil of a snapped mooring line
Hurt on the water or the docks? Call (310) 514-1200.
Your Rights Under the Jones Act
Under the Jones Act, seamen, crew members employed on a vessel, have the right to sue their employer directly for negligence that caused their injury. This right is among the most powerful available to any worker in the United States.
The Featherweight Causation Standard
To win a Jones Act claim, you only need to show that your employer’s negligence played any part, no matter how small, in causing your eye injury. This “featherweight” standard is the most lenient causation requirement in American law.
Unseaworthiness
Vessel owners have an absolute duty to provide a seaworthy vessel, one whose equipment is reasonably fit for its intended purpose. A missing eyewash station, defective safety goggles, unshielded grinding machinery, or dangerously inadequate lighting can all support a separate unseaworthiness claim without requiring proof of direct negligence.
Maintenance and Cure
Your employer must pay maintenance, a daily living allowance, and cure, all reasonable medical expenses, from the moment of injury until you reach maximum medical improvement (MMI). For a serious eye injury, cure includes ophthalmic surgery, prosthetic eyes, retinal repair, low-vision aids, and all ongoing specialist care.
Employers who willfully delay or deny these payments expose themselves to punitive damages and attorney’s fees.
Longshore and Shipyard Eye Injuries Under the LHWCA
Dock workers, ship builders, and harbor employees who do not qualify as seamen fall under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act. From our office at the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach, the busiest cargo complex in the Western Hemisphere, we have represented LHWCA workers in this community for decades.
The LHWCA provides all necessary medical care with the physician of your choice, two-thirds of your average weekly earnings during the period you cannot work, and scheduled monetary awards for permanent vision loss. Even while receiving LHWCA benefits, you can file a separate personal injury lawsuit against negligent third parties, including defective safety eyewear manufacturers or vessel owners whose crew caused your injury.
| Jones Act | LHWCA | Cruise Ship Claims | |
| Who Is Covered | Vessel crew members | Dock and shipyard workers | Passengers and crew |
| Fault Standard | Employer negligence | No-fault benefits | Operator negligence |
| Key Damages | Full damages including pain and suffering | Medical care and wage benefits | Full damages including pain and suffering |
| Time Limit | 3 years | 1 year (30-day notice) | 1 year (6-month notice) |
Cruise Ship Eye Injuries
Both passengers and crew can file claims when a cruise line’s negligence causes an eye injury. Chemical splashes from industrial cleaning products in galleys and laundry rooms, imbalanced pool chemicals, head injuries from deck falls, and tender-boat accidents are the most common situations we handle.
Cruise tickets are binding contracts that typically require written notice of your injury within six months and a lawsuit filed within one year, often in a designated federal court far from home. We represent cruise injury clients nationwide and are experienced in navigating these contractual restrictions.
What Compensation Can You Recover?
A career-ending eye injury can affect your income, your independence, and your ability to hold a maritime license permanently. We pursue the full range of damages available under maritime law:
- Medical Care: Corneal transplants, retinal repair, enucleation (eye removal surgery), prosthetic eyes, and all future ophthalmological treatment
- Lost Wages and Future Earnings: Your full diminished earning capacity, including the career consequences of failing the vision requirements for a U.S. Coast Guard medical certificate
- Pain, Suffering, and Disfigurement: Physical pain, emotional trauma, chronic light sensitivity, and visible scarring around the eye
- Vocational Rehabilitation: Retraining programs, assistive technology, and home modifications for workers who cannot return to maritime work
How Employers Fight Maritime Eye Injury Claims
Large vessel operators and maritime insurers protect their financial interests aggressively after any injury, and they move from day one. We have spent five decades watching these tactics, and we know how to counter every one.
- Directing You to Company Physicians: Their doctors may minimize your diagnosis or clear you for duty before you are medically ready, compromising both your recovery and your legal claim.
- Recording Your Statements: Adjusters request interviews with questions specifically designed to reduce or deny your claim later.
- Blaming PPE Non-Compliance: Even if you were not wearing assigned eye protection, the Jones Act does not eliminate your right to recover, your share of fault may proportionally reduce your award, but the claim stands.
- Withholding Maintenance and Cure: Deliberately delaying required benefit payments is illegal and exposes the employer to punitive damages.
Why Injured Workers Choose Law Offices of Charles D. Naylor
There is a real difference between a maritime attorney and a general personal injury lawyer. Admiralty law is a distinct federal system, with its own statutes, causation standards, and venue rules, and employers retain specialists who exploit every gap a generalist leaves open.
Charles D. Naylor was named the 2021 Admiralty and Maritime Law “Lawyer of the Year” in Los Angeles by Best Lawyers®. Our team has extensive experience and focuses exclusively on admiralty law.
Our results include substantial jury awards and settlements on behalf of injured seamen. We are a family firm, and every case we take goes on contingency: you pay nothing unless we win.
Call (310) 514-1200 or visit us at 111 W. Ocean Blvd, Long Beach, CA.
Deadlines for Filing a Maritime Eye Injury Claim
Missing a filing deadline permanently ends your right to compensation. The deadline you face depends on your legal status under maritime law:
- Jones Act Claims: Three years from the date of injury, but physical evidence fades fast, and you should act within weeks
- LHWCA Claims: Written notice to your employer within 30 days, formal claim filed within one year
- Cruise Ship Claims: Written notice within six months, lawsuit filed within one year in the court your ticket designates
Maritime Eye Injury FAQs
Do I Have to See the Company’s Eye Doctor?
No, maritime law protects your right to choose your own treating physician for all eye care, not the doctor your employer assigns.
What If I Was Not Wearing Safety Glasses?
Your own negligence does not bar a Jones Act claim. Comparative fault may proportionally reduce your total award, but you retain the right to file and recover compensation from your employer.
What If My Eye Symptoms Appeared Days After the Accident?
Some serious conditions, including retinal detachment, have a delayed onset. Report any worsening visual symptoms to your employer immediately and seek an independent medical examination as soon as possible.
Does Losing My USCG Medical Certificate Increase My Damages?
Yes. The permanent inability to pass vision requirements for a Coast Guard medical certificate is a significant and calculable component of your future lost earning capacity.
What If I Already Signed an Incident Report?
A basic incident report does not waive your legal rights. Never sign a settlement release or general waiver without first having it reviewed by a maritime attorney.
Can a Cruise Passenger File an Eye Injury Claim?
Yes. Cruise lines have a legal duty to maintain reasonably safe conditions, and their negligence, from chemical exposure to hazardous pool maintenance to unsafe deck conditions, can support a full personal injury claim regardless of where the ship was at the time.
