The Jones Act

& Notice To Mariners

 

THE JONES ACT

Since 1789 the United States has enacted legislation to promote a national-flag fleet. The first so-called "Cabotage" law restricted registration for the coastal trades and fisheries to ships U.S.-built and U.S.-owned and provided those early schooners with preferential treatment when tonnage taxes and cargo import duties were assessed. The Jones Act is "protectionist" legislation, but only in the finest sense of the word. The Jones Act is the government's way of protecting U.S.-Flag operators from flag of convenience carriers who, by "virtue" of choosing the least regulated registry, need not comply with even a semblance of the exstensive U.S. laws and regulations that protect the environment and human life. The Jones Act is a recognition that there are costs to complying with safety and environmental regulations and providing skilled employees with social and economic benefits. Since 1920, the U.S. Cabotage laws have been embodied in Section 27 of the Merchant Marine Act. Commonly referred to as the Jones Act [in honor of the sponsoring Senator from Washington], the legislation simply states that "no merchandise shall be transported by water, or by land and water ... between points in the United States ... in any other vessel than a vessel built in and documented under the laws of the United States and owned by persons who are citizens of the United States..." Like any industry or commercial enterprise taking place in the territorial United States, Jones Act vessels must be crewed by American citizens [or legal aliens]. U.S.-registry further requires that all crewmembers are licensed and documented by the United States Coast Guard. The Jones Act is also a federal law that provides remedies to seamen who are injured while working on a vessel. The Jones Act extends the provisions of the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA), a statute that provides remedies for injured workers, to provide similar remedies for seamen. As a result, an injured seaman can recover damages from the employer when an employer or a co-worker's negligence causes an injury. The Jones Act applies only to seamen, which are persons with an employment-related connection to a vessel in navigation and who contribute to the vessel's function or mission; that is, persons who do the ship's work. A person whose work is covered under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act may be treated as a Jones Act seaman in some cases. A lawyer can help figure out whether someone is a seaman for purposes of the act. The Jones Act applies to negligence claims against a seaman's employer when the employee is injured or killed during the course of employment. Seaman may be protected by the Jones Act even if they are not working on a vessel. If a seaman is injured while working temporarily elsewhere, the Act may still apply. However, if the temporary assignment is not "in the service of the ship" when he was injured, the act may not apply. Failing to provide a safe place to work can give rise to a Jones Act claim, if the unsafe place is the vessel or if it is another place under the employer's control. An unseaworthiness claim also may be pursued If the employer is also the owner of the vessel, and the injury is caused by an unsafe condition on the vessel. An employer also can be liable if there is a violation of a safety statute which is the cause of the injury. An employer can also be liable for failing to provide adequate medical care. The Jones Act also holds an employer liable for the negligence of other employees or individuals for which the employer is responsible, including the negligence of the seaman's co-workers during the scope of their employment. An independent contractor can sometimes be viewed as an employee under the Jones Act. The employer must attempt to rescue or search for a seaman if he jumps or falls overboard for as long as it is feasible that the seaman could be alive in the water. Failure to do so can result in liability under the Act. An employer owes a seaman a higher duty of care under the Jones Act than an ordinary negligence case, and the employer can be liable if its breach of that duty, no matter how small, contributed in any way to causing the seaman's injury. Although a seaman contributed to causing his own injury, the employer's liability may be reduced. Even if the seaman assumed the risk of injury by intentionally proceeding with a dangerous activity aware of the risks- this will not reduce the amount of compensation under the Act. A Jones Act claim must generally be brought within three years of the injury. The claim can be filed as an admiralty claim either in federal court or state court, or as a "law" claim in federal court. A lawyer should decide where to file the claim as this choice can affect the amount of the recovery.

 

 

Notice to current and former Mariners

The USCG is now computerized. Everything they issue today is recorded on disk rather than paper. They are in the process of scanning all their old paper. Eventually, they will put their whole archives on disk, destroying the actual documents when that is done. If you wish to get any old licenses, Z-Cards or other Merchant Mariner Documents, also copies of your discharges they may have in their files, snail mail these folks. The Coast Guard no longer charges for a mariner to get a copy of his or her record. Requests for records should be mailed to:

• USCG Archives
• Commanding Officer
• USCG National Maritime Center (NMC4A)
• 4200 Wilson Blvd., Suite 510
• Arlington, VA 22203

Thanks for your help in getting the word out.

Bill Chubb Chief, Marine Personnel Branch SUBMIT YOUR NAME, DATE OF BIRTH, SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER, AND YOUR SNAIL MAIL ADDRESS.