What Is the Jones Act and Who Does It Protect?

Protecting the Rights of Injured Seamen Under the Jones Act

Attorney Nick Oberheiden
Jones Act Cases Team Lead

The maritime industry is one of the most vital—and dangerous—sectors of the American economy. The Jones Act, formally known as the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, is a cornerstone of U.S. maritime law, establishing rules for commerce while critically safeguarding the welfare and legal rights of American seafarers.

The Jones Act is a powerful legal mechanism that allows qualified workers injured on the job to seek compensation for their losses. Understanding the nuances of this federal law is essential for anyone who works on the water.

If you are a seaman who has been injured, the legal maze of maritime claims can be overwhelming. Don’t navigate these complex waters alone. Let the experienced Jones Act lawyers at Oberheiden P.C. guide your claim. Call our team today for a confidential consultation.

The Historical Context and Purpose of the Jones Act

Enacted in the aftermath of World War I, the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, including its pivotal provision known as the Jones Act, was designed to address both economic and national security concerns. The core purpose of the overall Act was to foster the development and maintenance of a strong U.S. Merchant Marine.

Key Objectives of the Legislation

The Jones Act has two main functional areas: commercial regulation and worker protection.

Commercial Regulation (Cabotage): The law imposes strict requirements on vessels transporting cargo or passengers between U.S. ports (known as cabotage). To qualify, a vessel must be:

U.S.-built
U.S.-owned (at least 75% by U.S. citizens)
U.S.-flagged (registered in the U.S.)
U.S.-crewed (primarily by U.S. citizens or permanent residents)

Seaman Protection: For injured maritime workers, the Jones Act extends the protections of the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA)—a statute originally written for railway workers—to seamen. This is an important aspect that allows injured workers to sue their employers for negligence, a departure from traditional, no-fault workers’ compensation systems.

Who Qualifies as a Seaman Under the Jones Act?

The most critical factor in determining eligibility for a Jones Act claim is establishing “seaman status.” The law does not automatically cover all workers on or near the water. Instead, the U.S. Supreme Court has established a two-part test to determine if an injured worker qualifies:

1. Connection to a Vessel or Fleet of Vessels

The injured worker must demonstrate an employment-related connection to a “vessel in navigation” or to an identifiable “fleet of vessels” under common ownership.

Vessel in Navigation: This term is broader than just a moving ship. It includes virtually any watercraft or structure capable of being used as a means of transportation on water. This can include cargo ships, tankers, commercial fishing vessels, tugboats, barges, dredges, unmoored jack-up rigs, and more.

A structure is considered “in navigation” if it is floating, operational, and capable of movement on navigable waters. If a vessel is permanently moored, stored in a drydock for major repairs, or primarily used as a non-transportation workspace, it may not qualify.

Fleet of Vessels: A worker who rotates between multiple ships or rigs under the same employer can satisfy this requirement by treating the group of vessels as a single entity.

2. Substantiality of the Connection

The worker’s connection to the vessel (or fleet) must be substantial in terms of both its duration and its nature.

Duration Requirement (The 30% Rule): Generally, a worker satisfies the duration test if they spend at least 30% of their total working time aboard the qualifying vessel(s).
Nature Requirement: The worker’s duties must contribute to the function of the vessel or to the accomplishment of its mission. This intentionally broad definition includes a wide range of maritime professions, not just traditional deckhands or navigators.

Examples of qualifying occupations include:

Captains, mates, and deck crew
Engineers, mechanics, and electricians
Cooks, stewards, and galley workers
Oil rig workers and specific laborers whose primary duties take place on a qualifying vessel

Who is Not Covered by the Jones Act?

Workers who fail the “seaman status” test are typically covered by other federal or state compensation laws. Common examples include:

Longshore and Harbor Workers: Workers like longshoremen, dock workers, pier workers, and ship repairmen—who are primarily land-based—are generally covered by the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA).
Seamen on Unqualified Vessels: Workers on fixed platforms or structures (like true stationary oil platforms) or vessels that are permanently removed from navigation (e.g., ships retired to become floating museums) are not covered.

Types of Protections the Jones Act Provides

The Jones Act grants qualifying seamen unique and powerful protections, especially when compared to standard land-based workers’ compensation. The most significant protection is the right to file a personal injury lawsuit against the employer based on negligence.

Negligence Claims for Personal Injury

Unlike state workers’ compensation, which provides fixed benefits regardless of fault, the Jones Act allows a seaman to sue their employer to recover damages if the injury was caused, even in the slightest degree, by employer negligence.

A critical feature of the Jones Act is its low burden of proof for negligence. The injured seaman only needs to demonstrate that the employer’s negligence played any part, however slight, in causing the injury. This is a much lower standard than typical personal injury lawsuits.

Examples of employer negligence often cited by our Jones Act lawyers include:

Failure to provide a reasonably safe working environment (e.g., leaving a slippery substance on the deck)
Failure to ensure the vessel is seaworthy (e.g., providing defective or poorly maintained equipment, such as a broken ladder or crane)
Failure to provide adequate training, supervision, or sufficient manpower for a task
Failure to properly hire or discipline an unfit or violent co-worker

The Right to Maintenance and Cure

The protection of Maintenance and Cure is an ancient doctrine of maritime law that has been incorporated and reaffirmed by the Jones Act. This right is no-fault, meaning a seaman is entitled to these benefits even if they were 100% at fault for their injury, provided the injury occurred while “in the service of the vessel.”

Maintenance: This is a daily stipend to cover the seaman’s basic living expenses while recovering ashore. This includes costs for food and shelter. The rates are often low and can be disputed.
Cure: This covers all necessary and reasonable medical expenses related to the work injury or illness until the seaman reaches Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI)—the point at which the seaman’s condition cannot be further improved by medical treatment.

Recoverable Damages in a Jones Act Lawsuit

When a seaman successfully proves employer negligence under the Jones Act, they can recover a much broader range of damages than under workers’ compensation. These damages are designed to make the injured party “whole” again.

Economic Damages

These are tangible losses you have incurred or will have because of your offshore injury.

Lost Wages: Past wages lost since the injury and the projected loss of future earning capacity
Medical Expenses: All past and future costs for medical treatment, rehabilitation, therapy, and adaptive equipment beyond what was covered by Maintenance and Cure

Non-Economic Damages

These are intangible losses you’ve experienced as a result of the injury you sustained.

Pain and Suffering: Compensation for the physical pain, discomfort, and inconvenience caused by the injury
Mental Anguish: Compensation for psychological harm, such as depression, anxiety, or emotional distress
Disability and Disfigurement: Compensation for the permanent nature of the injury and any resulting disfigurement

Wrongful Death in Jones Act Claims

If a seaman is fatally injured due to employer negligence, their surviving family members (spouse, children, parents) can file a wrongful death claim to recover damages for financial support, lost inheritance, and funeral expenses.

Why Experience Matters: The Role of Jones Act Lawyers

The Jones Act provides critical protection, but navigating a claim is far from straightforward. The law is a federal statute interpreted by courts with deep roots in centuries of maritime tradition.

Employers and their powerful insurance carriers routinely employ sophisticated legal strategies to deny seaman status, dispute negligence, or minimize the value of damages.

Experienced Jones Act lawyers at Oberheiden P.C. possess the specific knowledge required to:

Establish Seaman Status

Your attorney can analyze a worker’s employment history and duties (especially the 30% rule) to legally qualify them as a seaman, even in complex cases involving unique vessels like dredges or drilling rigs.

Prove Negligence and Unseaworthiness

A Jones Act attorney understands the low burden of proof and can quickly investigate maritime accidents to uncover evidence of a vessel’s unseaworthy condition or an employer’s negligent practice that contributed to the injury.

Maximize Compensation

Oberheiden P.C. knows how to accurately calculate the full spectrum of damages and aggressively negotiate or litigate against the insurance company to secure fair compensation that truly reflects the seaman’s losses.

Oberheiden P.C.’s Jones Act Lawyers Are Ready to Fight for You

The Jones Act, formally the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 or Marine Act of 1920, was enacted by the United States Congress after World War I to strengthen the American merchant marine, protect national defense and national security, and regulate domestic shipping and coastwise trade. The law—often called the Lincoln Law because of its Civil War origins—requires that Jones Act vessels engaged in transporting domestic cargo between U.S. ports, including routes involving Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, be Jones Act compliant, meaning they are U.S.-built, U.S.-flagged, U.S.-owned, and crewed by merchant mariners who qualify as Jones Act mariners. These Jones Act requirements apply to commercial ships, container ships, tanker ships, towing vessels, certain mobile offshore drilling units, and other vessels transporting cargo domestically, while generally excluding foreign flagged ships, foreign built ships, foreign vessels, and foreign tankers, except in limited circumstances such as a Jones Act waiver granted on a case by case basis for military operations, emergencies, or homeland security needs.

Supporters of the law note that the Jones Act ensures a vessels sufficient fleet for foreign and domestic commerce, foreign commerce, and coastwise laws, while critics argue the Jones Act’s restrictions increase shipping costs, limit foreign competition, and affect the shipping industry by restricting foreign ships, foreign companies, and foreign flagged vessels from serving coastwise trade routes, even when foreign ports or a foreign country are nearby. Reports from the Congressional Research Service and oversight by the maritime administrator, Maritime Administration, Coast Guard, and statutes such as the Coast Guard Authorization Act and the Shipping Act examine how Jones Act carriers, flagged vessels, and such vessels—including passenger vessels governed by the Passenger Vessel Services Act, naval or military auxiliary ships, and specialized fleets serving offshore wind farms, liquefied natural gas transport, transport fuel, or municipal solid waste—impact the domestic maritime industry.

From World War I through World War II to the present, Jones Act supporters emphasize preserving shipbuilding capacity, protecting ship owners and merchant mariners, strengthening the merchant marine for emergencies along the Gulf Coast, border protection, and national needs, while debates continue over foreign vessels accessing U.S. ports, transport cargo domestically, the role of Jones Act ships and the Jones Act fleet, and how evolving demands—such as offshore wind farms, energy logistics, and an increasingly competitive future—should shape policy for domestic cargo, passenger vessels, and other commercial ships operating under federal law.

The Jones Act is the path to justice and financial recovery for many people injured while working on a vessel. The complexities of this federal law make working with seasoned Jones Act lawyers a necessity to protect your rights and future.

The attorneys at Oberheiden P.C. are ready to serve as your dedicated maritime advocates. Contact Oberheiden P.C. today for an initial case consultation.

Further Information About Jones Act

Disclaimer:
The content on this site is informational only and describes mere allegations. The content does not suggest evidence, proof, or guaranteed liability. The merits of each case depend on specific facts. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes in future cases. For more details, please see our FTC and general disclaimers. Oberheiden Law is the law firm in charge.