Legal Talk: Times change and so does maritime law

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Legal Talk

Times change and so does maritime law

The law isn’t what you rst think of when you hear the word “innovation.” But the law does change with the times, sort of.

That dry-rotted concept called the “Walker Doctrine” (breach of employment duty barring recovery) is barely ever applied these days. And when it comes to calculating an injured seaman’s daily stipend (maintenance), the law has moved to appreciate the expenses of modern life.

Maintenance is structured so that money should ow to the injured seaman. For instance, the obligation to pay maintenance doesn’t relate to whether there’s a showing of negligence or unseaworthiness. And it doesn’t matter whether the injury was suffered onboard or ashore as long as the seaman was in the service of the vessel. That said, while maintenance payments are calculated based on a seaman’s expenses, they’re never enough, and maintenance seems largely ineffective at providing meaningful assistance. It’s for this reason that it’s important to include as many expenses as possible in undertaking the calculus.

Lodging expenses can arguably include all expenses “necessary to the provision of habitable housing” such as heat, electricity, home insurance, trash service and real-estate taxes.

In negotiating a maintenance payment, I have successfully included the rental cost of a hot-water heater and loan payments on new windows, making it reasonable to believe loan payments for rental furniture and appliances would also be considered. There is relatively new law rightly stating that cellphone and internet service are “common utilities in the life of most people” and are properly included in the maintenance calculation.

And while transportation costs are sometimes considered part of cure, seaman shouldn’t hesitate to shoehorn them (car payments, insurance, fuel, etc.) into the maintenance sum because cure isn’t paid regularly and those transit expenses being paid as maintenance go to “palliating the disadvantages of seafaring life.”

The maintenance system doesn’t help drive outcomes that ultimately improve the working conditions of seafarers. Still, so long as it’s in place, those who need what bene t it offers should appreciate that, despite what they’re told, the maintenance calculation covers many of the expenses of modern-day life.

BY JOHN K. FULWEILER

John K. Fulweiler of Fulweiler LLC is a licensed mariner and maritime attorney. He also served as a staff captain with a New England towing and salvage firm prior to law school. He can be reached at john@ saltwaterlaw.com or 1-800-383-MAYDAY.