Personal Injury Advocate
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Were you hurt working on a boat, ship, or offshore rig?

If you were hurt while working on the water, we can help.

Are you in an emergency right now?

  • Call 911 or contact the U.S. Coast Guard if anyone is seriously hurt, overboard, or in immediate danger.
  • Report the injury to the captain or vessel operator right away.
  • Get medical care as soon as it is available, even at sea.
  • This page is for after you are safe.

This page covers maritime injury claim deadlines and what to do right now. We are the injured person's advocate. We connect you with a lawyer who handles cases like yours, so you get the full settlement your recovery deserves. Always free. Talk to an advocate. We usually reply within minutes, at most one business day.

Commercial fishing and other maritime jobs are consistently ranked among the most dangerous occupations in the United States. The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), the federal agency that oversees maritime safety, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) both track deaths and injuries in this industry every year (USCG, Recreational Boating Statistics and commercial vessel casualty data, BLS, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries).

Why maritime injuries are tricky

Maritime injury law works differently from most job injury law, and that surprises a lot of people.

What real maritime injury cases have paid

These are publicly reported results. They show how widely cases vary. They are examples only. No one can promise or predict what any case is worth, and many cases resolve for far less.

We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice. The point of these numbers is simple: serious maritime injuries carry serious lifetime costs, and the system can pay for them when the case is handled well by someone who understands maritime law.

Talk to an advocate. You do not have to sort out the Jones Act and deadlines alone.

When it goes wrong: a true story

National reporting on the Alaska and West Coast commercial fishing fleets has documented how remote, high-hazard work at sea makes injuries harder to prove and easier for employers to dispute. A National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)-linked investigation covered by NPR looked at commercial fishing deaths and found that safety improvements saved lives, but injured crew members still often faced long, difficult fights over medical care and lost wages after an accident at sea (NPR coverage of NIOSH commercial fishing safety research).

The lesson is not that any injured crew member did something wrong. Working far from shore makes documentation harder and disputes more common. Talk to an advocate. They will introduce you to a lawyer who can help you gather evidence early.

Protect your case

  1. Talk to an advocate at WeHelpInjured. It is free.
  2. Put your injury report to the captain or vessel operator in writing if you can.
  3. Ask for a copy of the accident report the vessel is required to keep.
  4. Take photos of the equipment, the deck area, and your injuries if you are able to safely.
  5. Write down the names of crew members who saw what happened, since crews often scatter to different vessels or ports.
  6. Keep every document: pay stubs, medical records, and any correspondence with the vessel owner or its insurer.
  7. Warning: don't wait! The Jones Act deadline is a trap. It runs differently than a normal injury or workers' compensation clock, so people wait, and waiting kills cases. The longer you wait, the fuzzier memories get and crews scatter to other vessels and ports. Talk to an advocate immediately. Find your state on our state pages.

Never do these

What we can help with

All of it is free to you. We never take money from injured people.

Talk to an advocate. A maritime injury can leave you far from home and unsure what to do next.

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