Wireline runs a line under tension into a live, pressurized well.
Wireline and slickline lower tools into the well for logging, perforating, and setting plugs, working through pressure-control equipment on a live well — often with explosive perforating guns aboard.
Tools on a line.
Wireline operations run tools into the well on a steel line — slickline, braided line, or electric line — through a lubricator and pressure-control equipment to log the well, perforate the casing, and set or pull downhole tools.
Parted, caught, fired.
A line parting under tension snaps back violently; hands and limbs are caught in the winch, sheave, or stuffing box; a pressure-control failure on a live well releases hydrocarbons; and perforating-gun explosives misfire. The injuries range from amputation to fatal blast.
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 reconstruct the run.
The firm rebuilds the line, the tension, and the pressure control, drawing on the snapback, caught-in, and explosion analyses and the borrowed-employee question.
What the other side will argue.
Expect the familiar moves — the claim that the line was within its tension limits rather than overloaded — 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.
Wireline is a controlled procedure.
Wireline has rated line, tension limits, pressure-control equipment, and explosives-handling rules — all governed by procedure the firm establishes through a marine-safety and pressure expert. The job tickets, the line-inspection and tension records, the pressure-control test data, and the explosives logs show whether the run was within limits and who controlled it (borrowed-employee doctrine).
A wireline parting or a control failure on a live well is a procedure or an inspection that gave way — both leave records.
What to protect first.
For this work the evidence is the job tickets, the line-inspection and tension records, and the pressure-control test 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 · Snapback · Caught-In Injuries · Explosion & Fire · 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.
