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Editor: Rod Sullivan
Profession: Maritime Attorney

Category: Unseaworthiness and The Jones Act

Seaman who are injured in the service of a vessel are entitled to maintenance, which is the reasonable cost of living ashore. Determining how much a shipowner has to pay for lodging is a difficult matter though.

Many seamen are single so the cost of lodging is the cost of a one bedroom apartment. Seamen who live with their parents both before and after they are injured are not entitled to the cost of lodging since they have no out of pocket expenses.

However, a seaman who has a home is likely entitled to the cost of the mortgage on that home, at least that is what the appeals court in New Orleans found in Hall v. Noble Drilling Inc., 242 F.3d 582 (5th Cir. 2001). The court said:

A seaman who pays for the rent or mortgage of a home he shares with his family actually spends out-of-pocket the entire amount. He cannot pay any less without losing his home. If a seaman would incur the lodging expenses of the home even if living alone, then the entire lodging expense represents the seaman's actual expenses.

As we have noted above, a seaman may recover for expenses he is obligated to pay or has promised to pay. See McCormick Shipping Corp. v. Duvalier, 311 F.2d 933, 933 (5th Cir. 1963) (per curiam). A seaman who pays for his rent or mortgage is obligated to pay the rent or mortgage regardless of the number of people living with him. Of course, if the seaman does not pay for the entire amount of the lodging costs, the seaman cannot recover for the entire amount, regardless of whether he lives alone.