SEAMAN
seaman.Maritime law. Under the Jones Act and the Longshore and Harbor Workers’
Compensation Act, a person who is attached to a navigating vessel as an employee below the rank
of officer and contributes to the function of the vessel or the accomplishment of its mission. •
Seamen’s injuries are covered under the Jones Act and the general maritime law. — Also termed
crew member; mariner; member of a crew. See JONES ACT. Cf. STEVEDORE. [Cases: Seamen
2. C.J.S. Seamen §§ 2–3, 155.]
“The Jones Act plaintiff must be a ‘seaman’ who is injured (or killed) ‘in the course of his
employment.’ The ‘course of … employment’ requirement at least excluded passengers, guests,
trespassers, pirates (unless of course the pirate was suing his own employer) and so on. Who else
might be excluded (or included) was, as a matter of initial construction, impossible to say. After a
half-century of litigation the answer to the riddle is not apparent. The Supreme Court has
alternated between giving the term ‘seaman’ an exceedingly broad construction and giving it a
much narrower one. Consequently defendants have been encouraged to argue, in all but the most
obvious cases, that plaintiff is not a Jones Act seaman and that the action must be dismissed. Thus
there has always been, there continues to be, and presumably there will go on being a substantial
volume of depressing litigation of this type.” Grant Gilmore & Charles L. Black Jr., The Law of
Admiralty § 6-21, at 328 (2d ed. 1975).
“The traditional seaman is a member of the crew of a merchant vessel …. However, vessels
are not limited in their functions to the transportation of goods over water. The performance by a
vessel of some other mission, such as operating as a cruise ship, necessitates the presence aboard
ship of employees who do not ‘man, reef and steer’ the vessel …. Exploration for oil and gas on
navigable waters has led to further expansion of the concept of a ‘seaman.’ In 1959, in the
celebrated case of Offshore Oil Co. v. Robison, 266 F.2d 769 (5th Cir. 1959), the Fifth Circuit held
that floating drilling structures are ‘vessels’ and that the amphibious oil workers aboard them are
entitled to the seaman’s remedies against their employers and the operators of the ‘vessels’ on
which they are employed.” Frank L. Maraist, Admiralty in a Nutshell 178–80 (2d ed. 1988).
able-bodied seaman.An experienced seaman who is qualified for all seaman’s duties and
certified by an inspecting authority. — Abbr. AB; ABS. — Also termed able seaman; bluewater
seaman. [Cases: Seamen 11, 29. C.J.S. Seamen §§ 113–121, 123, 132–133, 148.]
merchant seaman.A sailor employed by a private vessel, as distinguished from one employed
in public or military service. [Cases: Seamen 2. C.J.S. Seamen §§ 2–3, 155.]
ordinary seaman.A seaman who has some experience but who is not proficient enough to be
classified as an able-bodied seaman. — Abbr. OS; OD. [Cases: Seamen 11, 29. C.J.S. Seamen
§§ 113–121, 123, 132–133, 148.] sea lane.Int’l & maritime law. A designated course or regularly used route for ships, esp. in
restricted waters such as harbors and straits. • Although sea lanes have obvious safety advantages,
they were long resisted by sea captains, who saw them as a threat to their freedom to navigate. [Blacks Law 8th]