Maritime & Accident Law Glossary

Maritime, offshore, cruise ship, boating, and general personal injury law each carry their own specialized vocabulary, and understanding the terms involved can make it much easier to follow how a claim actually works. This glossary collects plain-English definitions of the terminology used throughout our maritime, offshore, and accident-law content, organized by topic. Where a term has a specialized meaning in maritime law that differs from its everyday or general-negligence meaning, that specialized meaning is explained specifically. This page is a reference resource, not legal advice about any specific claim.

Maritime & Admiralty Law

Admiralty law — The body of law, historically and largely still federal, that governs maritime activity, navigation, shipping, and injuries occurring on navigable waters. "Admiralty law" and "maritime law" are often used interchangeably.

Maritime law — U.S. federal law governing activity on navigable waters, including vessel operations, maritime commerce, and injuries to those working on or connected to vessels. Maritime law can apply instead of, or alongside, state law depending on where an incident occurred and its connection to traditional maritime activity.

General maritime law — The body of federal common law (judge-made law, as opposed to a specific statute) that governs maritime torts, including negligence and unseaworthiness claims, developed through admiralty court decisions over time rather than through a single comprehensive federal statute.

Jones Act — A federal statute, 46 U.S.C. § 30104, that gives an injured "seaman" the right to sue their employer for negligence and, in the case of death, gives certain survivors the right to bring a wrongful death claim. The Jones Act is distinct from general maritime law and from state workers' compensation systems, and it applies specifically to qualifying seamen rather than to all maritime workers. See our full guide to Jones Act & seaman's injury rights.

Seaman — A legal status, not just a job title, referring to someone who has an employment-based connection to a vessel (or fleet of vessels) in navigation that is substantial in both its nature and duration. Whether a particular worker legally qualifies as a "seaman" is a fact-specific question that significantly affects which legal framework — the Jones Act, the LHWCA, or something else — applies to an injury.

Seaman's claim — A general term for a legal claim brought by a qualifying seaman against an employer or vessel, which can include a Jones Act negligence claim, an unseaworthiness claim under general maritime law, and a claim for maintenance and cure, potentially pursued together in the same case. See our guide to Jones Act vs. general maritime law.

Maintenance and cure — A long-standing maritime doctrine, distinct from a negligence claim, under which a shipowner or employer must provide a qualifying seaman injured or who falls ill while in service of the vessel with "maintenance" (a daily living allowance) and "cure" (medical expenses) until the seaman reaches maximum medical improvement — regardless of who was at fault for the injury. This no-fault obligation has deep roots in maritime law and was addressed by the U.S. Supreme Court in The Osceola, 189 U.S. 158 (1903). See our full guide, maintenance and cure explained.

Unseaworthiness — A general maritime law doctrine holding that a vessel owner has a duty to provide a vessel, its equipment, and its crew that are reasonably fit for their intended purpose. A vessel or condition that falls short of that standard is "unseaworthy," and an injury caused by an unseaworthy condition can support a claim separate from an ordinary negligence claim, and separate from a Jones Act claim.

Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA) — A federal workers' compensation statute, 33 U.S.C. § 901 et seq., that provides benefits to certain maritime workers injured on navigable waters or in adjoining areas used for loading, unloading, repairing, or building vessels — such as longshore workers and harbor workers — who do not qualify as "seamen" under the Jones Act. See our oil rig injury lawyer guide for how this applies to offshore platform workers.

Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA) — A federal statute, 46 U.S.C. § 30302 et seq., providing a wrongful death remedy for deaths occurring more than three nautical miles from U.S. shores, with its own specific rules about who may bring a claim and what damages are recoverable, distinct from state wrongful death statutes.

Saving to suitors clause — A provision of federal admiralty jurisdiction law, 28 U.S.C. § 1333, that allows a person with a maritime claim to bring that claim in state court under common-law remedies, rather than being required to bring it exclusively in federal admiralty court.

Navigable waters — Waters that are used, or susceptible to being used, for interstate or foreign commerce — a legal concept that helps determine whether federal maritime law applies to a given body of water and the activity on it.

Vessel — A broad legal term generally covering any watercraft used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water, which can include everything from commercial ships to certain recreational boats, depending on the legal context.

Offshore worker — A general term for someone employed in offshore industries, such as oil and gas extraction, whose work takes place on platforms, rigs, or vessels in open water rather than on land, and whose legal rights after an injury can depend heavily on their specific job classification and work location.

Oil rig — A general term for offshore drilling and production structures. Injuries occurring on oil rigs can potentially be governed by several different federal frameworks depending on the type of structure and the worker's role, including the Jones Act, the LHWCA, or the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), a federal statute extending certain legal protections to structures on the outer continental shelf.

Types of Accidents

Offshore accident — A general term for an accident occurring in connection with offshore work or operations, such as on a drilling platform, production facility, or offshore support vessel. See our offshore accident lawyer guide.

Maritime accident — A general term for an accident occurring on navigable water or in connection with vessel operations, which may implicate maritime law depending on the specific facts. See our maritime accident lawyer guide.

Boating accident — An incident involving a vessel — such as a motorboat, sailboat, personal watercraft, or similar craft — that results in injury, death, or property damage. See our boating accident lawyer guide for a detailed discussion of how these claims typically work.

Cruise ship accident — An incident resulting in injury aboard a cruise ship or during a cruise-related activity, such as a shore excursion, which is often governed by a combination of maritime law and the specific terms of the passenger's cruise ticket contract. See our cruise ship accident lawyer guide and the Cruise Ship & Passenger Vessel Accidents hub for related guides.

Passenger vessel — A vessel, such as a cruise ship or ferry, whose primary purpose is transporting paying passengers, as distinguished from a commercial cargo vessel or a private recreational boat.

Tender boat — A smaller vessel used to transport passengers between a larger ship (such as a cruise ship anchored offshore) and the shore, when the larger vessel cannot dock directly at a port. See our guide to tender boat, excursion & dinner cruise accidents.

Liability & Negligence

Negligence — The legal theory underlying most personal injury claims: a failure to exercise the level of care that a reasonably prudent person would have exercised under similar circumstances, resulting in harm to another person.

Comparative negligence — A legal rule, used in some form by most U.S. states, under which an injured person's compensation is reduced by their own percentage of fault for causing the accident, rather than barring recovery outright.

Contributory negligence — A stricter legal rule, used in a minority of jurisdictions, under which an injured person who is found to bear any fault at all for their own injury may be barred from recovering compensation entirely.

Liability — Legal responsibility for causing harm, damage, or loss to another person, which can result in an obligation to pay compensation.

Damages & Compensation

Damages — The monetary compensation sought or awarded in a civil claim to address the harm caused by another party's conduct.

Economic damages — Damages tied to a specific, calculable financial loss, such as medical expenses, lost wages, and property damage.

Non-economic damages — Damages compensating for losses that are real but not tied to a specific bill or receipt, such as pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life.

Punitive damages — Damages intended to punish especially egregious or reckless conduct and deter similar conduct in the future, awarded in addition to compensatory (economic and non-economic) damages, and generally available only in a narrower category of cases involving conduct beyond ordinary negligence.

Wrongful death — A civil claim brought when a person's death is caused by another party's negligence or wrongful conduct, generally brought by surviving family members or an estate representative under a state wrongful death statute, federal maritime wrongful death principles, or, in certain offshore deaths, the Death on the High Seas Act.

Personal injury — Harm to a person's body, mind, or emotional well-being caused by another party's negligence or wrongful conduct, and the broader legal category of claims seeking compensation for that harm. See What Is a Personal Injury Lawyer? for more background.

Legal Process & Procedure

Statute of limitations — A law setting a deadline by which a lawsuit must be filed, after which the claim can generally be permanently barred. See our full guide, Statute of Limitations in the U.S., for a detailed explanation.

Tolling — A legal doctrine that pauses or delays the running of a statute of limitations under specific circumstances, such as when the injured person is a minor or could not reasonably have discovered the injury.

Settlement — An agreement resolving a legal claim without a trial, typically involving a negotiated payment in exchange for the injured person releasing further legal claims related to the incident.

Litigation — The formal process of pursuing or defending a claim through the court system, including filing a lawsuit, discovery, motions, and potentially trial.

Arbitration — A form of alternative dispute resolution in which parties present their case to a neutral arbitrator (rather than a judge or jury) who issues a binding or non-binding decision, depending on the terms of the agreement requiring arbitration. Some cruise line ticket contracts and other agreements include arbitration or specific forum requirements that can affect where and how a claim must be pursued.

Jurisdiction — A court's legal authority to hear a particular type of case or a case involving particular parties; in maritime contexts, this often involves the specific question of whether federal admiralty jurisdiction applies.

Venue — The specific geographic court location where a case is properly filed, which is a related but distinct concept from jurisdiction.

Defendant — The party against whom a legal claim is brought.

Plaintiff — The party who brings a legal claim, generally the injured person or the representative of a deceased person's estate in a wrongful death case.

Claim — A demand for compensation or other legal relief based on an asserted legal right.

Cause of action — The specific legal theory (such as negligence, unseaworthiness, or breach of contract) that entitles a plaintiff to relief, and that must generally be proven to succeed in a claim.

Evidence — Information — including documents, photographs, witness testimony, and expert analysis — used to prove or disprove facts relevant to a legal claim.

Discovery — The formal pre-trial process in litigation during which parties exchange relevant evidence and information, including through document requests and depositions (sworn out-of-court testimony).

Demand letter — A written communication, typically sent by an injured person's attorney to an insurer or opposing party, formally describing the claim and requesting a specific settlement amount as an opening step in negotiation.

Fees, Claims & Insurance

Contingency fee — A fee arrangement in which an attorney's payment is a percentage of any settlement or verdict recovered, rather than an hourly rate, with no attorney's fee generally owed if there is no recovery. See Contingency Fee Agreements: How Lawyers Get Paid for a full explanation.

Retainer — Depending on context, either an upfront payment held toward future hourly billing, or a fee paid to secure a lawyer's general availability. See How Much Does a Lawyer Cost? for more on how this compares to other fee structures.

Medical lien — A legal claim, often held by a health insurer, government health program, or medical provider, against the proceeds of a settlement or verdict, entitling the lienholder to be reimbursed for treatment provided in connection with the injury before the injured person receives their net recovery.

Insurance claim — A formal request submitted to an insurance company for payment under an applicable policy, based on a covered loss such as an accident or injury.

Third-party claim — A claim brought against someone other than the injured person's own insurer — for example, a claim against another driver's, boat owner's, or company's insurance policy, as opposed to a "first-party" claim made under the injured person's own policy.

How These Terms Fit Together

Many of these terms interact directly in a real claim. A maritime worker injured aboard a vessel, for instance, might need to determine whether they qualify as a seaman (affecting whether the Jones Act or the LHWCA applies), whether the vessel was unseaworthy, whether they are entitled to maintenance and cure regardless of fault, what statute of limitations and tolling rules apply, and how any eventual settlement will address economic damages, non-economic damages, and potential medical liens. Our Maritime & Offshore Injury Law and Cruise Ship & Passenger Vessel Accidents hubs bring together related guides as they are published, and What Is a Personal Injury Lawyer? explains how a lawyer generally helps sort through these overlapping frameworks.

Getting Legal Guidance

This glossary provides general definitions to help readers understand terminology used across maritime, offshore, and personal injury law content, and does not constitute legal advice about any specific claim. Legal terms can carry different meanings depending on jurisdiction and context, and how a specific term applies to a specific situation should be confirmed with a qualified attorney.

This article is general legal information, not legal advice, and does not guarantee any particular outcome. No attorney-client relationship is created by reading this page.