A heavy lift is engineered — a dropped load is not an accident.
Heavy-lift operations move large modules and structures with high-capacity cranes and lift vessels under an engineered plan. When a load drops, swings, or shifts, it traces to the plan, the rigging, or the crane.
Lifting the big pieces.
Heavy-lift operations raise and position large modules, structures, and equipment using high-capacity cranes and heavy-lift vessels, governed by an engineered lift plan, rated rigging, and tag-line control. This is the marine-construction work behind installation and decommissioning.
Dropped, swung, collapsed.
A dropped load from rigging or crane failure, a swinging or shifting load that strikes the crew, caught-between injuries, and crane structural failure. The energy in a heavy load makes any of these catastrophic. For dropped-object and crane mechanics, see our crane-accident page.
Which law — and who answers.
Offshore construction is vessel-based, contractor-heavy work, so liability spreads across the vessel, the contractors, and the equipment makers.
The construction vessel, derrick barge, or heavy-lift vessel and its crew are controlled by the owner/operator, who answers under the Jones Act and whose unfit vessel or gear can be unseaworthy.
The installation, rigging, and lift companies answer for negligent work and planning; the borrowed-employee doctrine sorts out who controlled the job.
A defective crane, winch, rigging component, or cutting tool supports a products claim against the manufacturer.
On a construction vessel the crew are usually seamen (Jones Act); on a fixed structure 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 reconstruct the lift.
The firm rebuilds the lift plan, the rigging, and the crane, drawing on the crane, construction-vessel, and caught-between analyses.
What the other side will argue.
Expect the familiar moves — the claim that the load was within the chart rather than over it — alongside the standard fights over seaman status, comparative fault, and surveillance. The full Construction defense playbook, with how each argument is met, is set out on our construction operations page.
A heavy lift leaves a paper trail.
High-capacity lifts run on a lift plan, load charts, rated and certified rigging, and crane maintenance records. A dropped or shifted load points to a documented lapse. The firm proves the standard through a rigging and marine-safety expert, and the lift plan, the rigging certificates, the crane records, and the vessel logs carry the negligence and the unseaworthy case.
A heavy lift is planned to the shackle and the load chart — a dropped load means a written limit was crossed.
What to protect first.
For this work the evidence is the lift plan, the rigging certificates, the crane records, and the vessel logs — 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 construction operations page.
Where this connects.
Construction Operations · Crane Accidents · Construction Vessels · Platform Installation · Caught-Between
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.
