What were you working on? It usually decides which law covers you.
Maritime injury law turns on a single distinction: were you on a vessel, or on a structure fixed to the seabed? The answer routes your case toward the Jones Act or toward OCSLA — and the remedies are very different.
What you were working on usually decides which law covers your injury
Offshore work happens on everything from drillships and supply vessels to fixed platforms, spars, and tension-leg platforms, and the structure usually decides the law. Crew on a vessel, such as a drillship, semisubmersible, or supply vessel, are generally Jones Act seamen. Workers on a fixed platform generally fall under OCSLA and the Longshore Act. Floating production units like FPSOs, spars, and TLPs raise harder, contested vessel questions that can change the outcome.
Key takeaways
- What you were working on usually decides whether the Jones Act or OCSLA applies.
- Drillships, semisubmersibles, and supply vessels are generally vessels, so their crews are seamen.
- Fixed platforms are not vessels; workers there usually fall under OCSLA and the Longshore Act.
- FPSOs, spars, and TLPs raise contested vessel questions worth litigating.
- The classification decides your remedies, so it matters from the start.
Vessel, or fixed to the seabed?
Almost every offshore injury case begins with the same question: what was the worker on? Under Stewart v. Dutra Construction Co., 543 U.S. 481 (2005), a “vessel” is any watercraft practically capable of moving on water — a definition broad enough to cover drillships, semi-submersibles, jack-ups, FPSOs, and the whole marine spread. A worker assigned to one of those can be a Jones Act seaman. A structure permanently fixed to the seabed is the opposite: under Herb's Welding, Inc. v. Gray, 470 U.S. 414 (1985), it is not a vessel, and its workers fall under OCSLA and borrowed state law.
Drillship, semi, jack-up, FPSO, supply or construction vessel → likely a Jones Act seaman, with negligence and unseaworthiness claims — or, for non-crew aboard, a § 905(b) claim against the vessel.
A jacket, piled structure, or tower fixed to the seabed → OCSLA and Chapter 95, not the Jones Act — unless a vessel was involved, which can change everything.
Get the structure right and you've found the law. Get it wrong and the case can be worth a fraction of what it should be.
What were you on?
What the other side will argue — and how it’s met.
Across every offshore structure the defense reaches for the same moves, and the first of them is almost always about classification.
On a vessel the fight is rarely whether it is a vessel — it is whether you were its crew. Seaman status turns on a connection to the vessel or fleet that is substantial in nature and duration (Chandris and Sanchez, roughly 30% of your time) and is provable through assignment and time records. Establishing it opens the full Jones Act and unseaworthy-vessel recovery.
On a fixed platform the defense reaches for Texas Chapter 95, a statute written to protect property owners from their contractors’ work. It has real exceptions — for the operator’s control over the work and its actual knowledge of the danger — and the firm has defeated exactly that gambit on an OCS structure. See OCSLA & Chapter 95.
For floating, movable units the defense argues the structure is a fixed facility outside maritime law. Vessel status is a fact question — a structure practically capable of maritime transportation is a vessel — and winning it brings the Jones Act and unseaworthy doctrine to bear instead of a narrower premises regime.
The Jones Act uses pure comparative negligence, so a worker’s own fault reduces a recovery but never bars it — and the hazard is usually the company’s. In one case the firm tried, a jury found the injured worker zero percent at fault.
On a structure, classification comes first.
The structure decides the regime: a vessel brings the Jones Act and unseaworthy doctrine, while a fixed platform brings OCSLA & Chapter 95. So the firm settles classification first — proving vessel status and the worker’s connection to it, or meeting a platform’s Chapter 95 defense by showing the operator’s control and knowledge — and only then reconstructs the hazard with a marine-safety expert. Responsibility usually splits among the operator, the owner, and the contractors, and for overseas rigs the firm keeps the case in a U.S. court.
On an offshore structure the first fight is which law governs — win that, and the rest follows.
What to protect while it still exists.
Whatever the structure, the same early steps protect the case.
Operating and maintenance records, the contracts that show who controlled the work, and your own assignment and time records support both classification and liability. Secure them before they scatter.
Tell a supervisor and make sure a written incident report is created. For a serious injury the vessel must also file a Coast Guard marine-casualty report (Form CG‑2692); a missing report is itself evidence of a safety failure.
See a doctor promptly and describe exactly how the injury happened to every provider. An honest, contemporaneous record is the backbone of the case.
You are not required to give the insurer a recorded statement, and early “I’m okay” remarks get used against you. Assume you may be watched, and get advice before signing.
Common questions
From our cases
Frequently asked questions about offshore structures and vessel status
Why does it matter what structure I was on?
Because the structure usually decides which law applies. A vessel points to the Jones Act and seaman remedies; a fixed platform points to OCSLA and the Longshore Act. The same injury can lead to very different recoveries depending on the structure.
Which offshore structures are vessels?
Drillships, semisubmersibles, jack-up rigs, MODUs, and supply and construction vessels are generally treated as vessels. Fixed platforms and compliant towers generally are not.
What about FPSOs, spars, and TLPs?
These floating production units raise the hardest questions. FPSOs have often been treated as vessels, while spars and TLPs, which are moored in place, have often been treated more like fixed platforms. The answer is fact-specific.
What is the test for whether something is a vessel?
Courts ask whether the structure is practically capable of being used as a means of transportation on water. Something built to move, such as a drillship or supply vessel, usually qualifies; something fixed to the seabed or permanently moored in place usually does not.
What is maintenance and cure?
Maintenance and cure is a no-fault maritime benefit owed to an injured seaman: maintenance covers daily living expenses and cure covers medical care, until you reach maximum medical improvement, regardless of who was at fault.
What should you do after an offshore injury?
Get medical care and make sure the injury is reported in writing. Preserve evidence early, including incident reports, photos, equipment, and witness names, and do not give a recorded statement or sign anything before talking to a lawyer.
Not sure how your rig or vessel is classified? We are.
Doyle Dennis Avery LLP represents offshore workers hurt on every kind of structure — drillships, semis, jack-ups, FPSOs, platforms, and the vessels that serve them. Tell us what you were on and what happened, and we'll tell you which law applies. A case review costs nothing.
This page is general information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Whether a given structure is a “vessel,” and whether a worker is a Jones Act seaman, an LHWCA harbor worker, or covered under OCSLA, are fact-intensive questions that depend on the specific circumstances. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome. Doyle Dennis Avery LLP · Houston, Texas. This is attorney advertising.
