Baton Rouge Maritime Lawyer | Louisiana Jones Act Attorney
If you have been injured working on the Mississippi River, on an inland waterway or in the Port of Baton Rouge, you have legal rights as a Jones Act seaman or maritime worker. A Baton Rouge, Louisiana, maritime lawyer at Gordon, Elias and Seely, L.L.P., will work to ensure that you receive the maximum compensation after a serious maritime injury.
The law office of Gordon, Elias & Seely, L.L.P., helps the hardworking men and women in the marine industry who work as crew on tugboats, barges and other vessels on inland waterways and in the Gulf of Mexico. Our maritime attorneys are licensed to practice in Louisiana and Texas.
You may be facing significant medical bills and time off work, so it’s important to understand your right to compensation after a marine vessel injury. Whether you have been injured on a tug boat, a towboat, a barge, aboard a commercial fishing vessel, or in a fleeting operation or lost a loved one in a wrongful death accident, we are here to assist if you have been harmed through the fault of an employer or another crew member.
Call 800-773-6770 or fill out the online contact form to receive a free initial consultation. Mr. Gordon, Mr. Elias or Mr. Seely will be glad to answer your questions. They take calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Baton Rouge Maritime Industries
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is a center for petrochemical production and manufacturing, and the port of Baton Rouge is one of the largest in the nation. The port of Baton Rouge is the farthest inland port on the Mississippi River that can accommodate oceangoing tankers and cargo carriers. Deep draft ships transfer cargo of crude oil, automobiles, steel, ores, grain and containers to rail, pipelines and barges for movement farther inland. The marine transport industry is critical to the Baton Rouge economy, but it remains dangerous work, and marine vessel injuries are common.
The Port of Greater Baton Rouge is located in Port Allen, La., where the Mississippi River and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway meet. The Port of Greater Baton Rouge is linked to other major ports in south Texas and Louisiana through the Mississippi River inland waterway system. It is 230 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi River is the most heavily used inland waterway for the movement of bulk materials.
The port handles oceangoing vessels such as deep draft container ships and cargo tankers with a 48-foot draft, bulk carriers, vehicle carriers, liquid cargo barges, dry cargo barges, as well as rafts of inland barges pushed by towboats and tug boats. The facilities at the port include the Inland Rivers Marine Terminal barge docks situated on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. The marine terminal serves as a transshipment point to other Gulf of Mexico seaports, including New Orleans and Houston.
Among the companies with operations in Baton Rouge and Port Allen are Dow Chemical Co., ExxonMobil, Katoen Natie Louisiana, Kanorado Terminals and marine transportation companies such as Kirby Corp., an operator of tank barges on the Mississippi River system, American Commercial Lines, AEP River Operations, American River Transportation, Ingram Barge Co., McDonough Marine Service, and Cargill Marine and Terminal, Inc.
Some marine transport companies specialize in barge fleeting operations in the Baton Rouge–New Orlean corridor or bunkering services near the port of Baton Rouge. Companies such as McKinney Harbor Towing, Kirby Inland Marine – Dixie Carriers, Ingram Barge Co., Alter Barge Line, Inc., Carline Management Co., Chem Carriers, LLC., Darrow Fleeting and Switching, E.N. Bisso and Son, Inc., Moran Towing, and Elmwood Marine Services, Inc., are active on Louisiana rivers and waterways. Injuries are common on fleeting tugboats. For example, Kirby Inland Marine transports petrochemical feedstocks, chemicals and refined products along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, the Mississippi River below Baton Rouge and in the Houston Ship Canal. Kirby also has one of the largest fleets of bunkering barges on the Gulf Coast.
A tankerman or deckhand can sustain a serious head injury, back injury or neck injury during a bunkering operation or when connecting or disconnecting barges during fleeting operations.
Baton Rouge Towboat / Barge Accident Lawyers
Maritime workers and dock workers handle goods, equipment and supplies essential to the economic wellbeing of Louisiana and our nation. But maritime work remains dangerous and marine vessel injuries common. If a shipowner doesn’t maintain a vessel properly, an unseaworthy vessel increases the risk of a serious accident. A crane or piece of lifting equipment may fail, causing serious injury or the wrongful death of a deckhand or crew from a dropped load. A winch or windlass hydraulic motor may bind or fail when heaving in a cable or line under tension. A ruptured pipe may spray flammable liquids onto hot surfaces in an engine room, causing fires and explosions. A deckhand may fall through an open or unsecured hatch into a cargo hold, suffering serious head and back injuries.
Many marine accidents stem from a vessel owner’s failure to provide a seaworthy vessel or an employer’s disregard for ensuring safe working conditions and an adequately trained crew. Vessel owners may be liable for equipment failures that result in the unseaworthiness of the vessel. The maritime lawyers of Gordon, Elias & Seely L.L.P., understand maritime accidents and know how to show the true causes of a serious accident such as an employer’s disregard for safety.
If you have been injured while working on a ship, barge, tow boat, supply boat or platform, take the time to talk to a knowledgeable Baton Rouge maritime attorney about your legal options. The Jones Act offers legal protection to many injured maritime workers. The skilled maritime lawyers at Gordon, Elias & Seely, L.L.P., are licensed to practice in Louisiana and Texas and have helped many Gulf families overcome a serious injury or loss.
Call Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Marine Vessel Accident Lawyer
If you are a Jones Act seaman, a barge deckhand, engineer, tankerman, cook, captain or an offshore worker and have been injured in a marine-related job, you may have legal rights as a maritime worker under federal law. An experienced Louisiana maritime lawyer at Gordon, Elias and Seely, L.L.P., can make sure you receive full compensation after a serious offshore injury.
The knowledgeable maritime lawyers at Gordon, Elias & Seely, L.L.P., are licensed to practice in Louisiana and Texas. If you have been injured in an offshore accident, it’s important to make the right call when choosing a Jones Act attorney to represent you. Call 800-773-6770 or fill out the online contact form to receive a free initial consultation. Mr. Gordon and Mr. Elias will be glad to answer your questions
