Coiled tubing forces continuous pipe into a live well under pressure.
Coiled-tubing units run a continuous string of pipe into the well through an injector head and reel, working on a live, pressurized well for cleanouts, stimulation, and fishing. Tubing fatigue and pressure are the dominant hazards.
Pipe off a reel.
A coiled-tubing unit injects a continuous steel string into the well through an injector head and gooseneck off a large reel, working through pressure-control equipment to circulate, stimulate, or retrieve downhole.
Failed, crushed, released.
Tubing fatigue failure or buckling, crush injuries at the injector head and reel, a high-pressure release when the tubing parts on a live well, and pressure-control failures. The continuous tubing’s fatigue history makes inspection critical.
Which law — and who answers.
Completion is contractor-heavy work that crosses vessel and platform, so liability and the governing law both turn on the details.
The operator owns the completion program and the company representative who directs the work; its decisions and retained control carry liability.
The frac, wireline, coiled-tubing, and workover companies that bring the equipment and crew answer for negligent work; the borrowed-employee doctrine sorts out who controlled the job.
A defective pump, pressure-control stack, wireline tool, or length of coiled tubing supports a products claim, and unfit gear can render a vessel unseaworthy.
On a vessel the crew are usually seamen (Jones Act); on a fixed platform the LHWCA/OCSLA and §905(b) vessel negligence apply. The firm preserves whichever route fits (Jones Act vs. workers’ comp).
Sound like your situation? Calling us is confidential, costs nothing, and starts nothing you don’t choose to start.
Text (713) 489-2297We examine the string.
The firm reconstructs the tubing condition, the injector, and the pressure control, drawing on the crush and release analyses and the borrowed-employee question.
What the other side will argue.
Expect the familiar moves — the claim that the tubing was within its fatigue life rather than spent — alongside the standard fights over seaman status, comparative fault, and surveillance. The full Completion defense playbook, with how each argument is met, is set out on our completion operations page.
Tubing fatigue is tracked.
Coiled tubing has a documented fatigue life, inspection history, and pressure rating, and the injector and pressure-control equipment are maintained and tested. A failure points to a tracked limit that was exceeded. The firm proves it through a pressure expert, and the tubing-fatigue log, the inspection records, and the pressure data carry the case.
Coiled tubing has a counted fatigue life — a failure usually means the count was ignored.
What to protect first.
For this work the evidence is the tubing-fatigue log, the inspection records, and the pressure data — held by the company and routinely overwritten, so demand preservation in writing before it is lost, and get prompt medical care. The full first-days checklist is on our completion operations page.
Where this connects.
Completion Operations · Crush Injuries · Explosion & Fire · Well Control · Borrowed Employee
What happens when you text us
Tell us what happened — in your own words, as much or as little as you want.
We review it free. You learn whether maritime law protects you and what your options actually are.
You decide. Nothing is filed, and no one contacts your employer, unless you choose to move forward.
Your conversation with us is confidential. There is no fee unless we win. Hablamos español.
Reach out even if…
- You think the accident was partly your fault — under the Jones Act, your own fault reduces a recovery but does not bar it.
- You already gave a statement or signed something — a release signed under pressure can be challenged.
- You still work for the company — talking to a lawyer is confidential, and retaliation for pursuing a claim can itself be actionable.
- You’re not sure your case is “big enough” — that’s exactly what a free review is for.
Catastrophic offshore injury? The investigation can’t wait.
Equipment gets repaired, records get revised, and witnesses rotate off the rig. Doyle Dennis Avery LLP moves quickly to preserve the evidence and identify every responsible party. A case review costs nothing, there is no obligation, and your employer will not know you contacted us.
This page is general information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. The law that applies to an offshore injury — the Jones Act, the LHWCA and \u00a7 905(b), OCSLA, the general maritime law, product-liability law, or another body of law — and the parties responsible depend on the specific facts. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome. Doyle Dennis Avery LLP · Houston, Texas. This is attorney advertising.
