Lafayette Offshore Injury Attorney | Louisiana Jones Act Lawyers
If you are an offshore worker or marine employee based in Lafayette and have been injured in the Gulf of Mexico, you have legal rights as a Jones Act seaman under federal law. An experienced Lafayette maritime lawyer at Gordon & Elias, L.L.P., can make sure you receive full compensation after a serious offshore injury.
The experienced offshore injury attorneys at Gordon & Elias, L.L.P., assist the hardworking men and women in the maritime industry. We apply our considerable experience and dedication to every Jones Act and admiralty law case we handle.
The maritime attorneys at Gordon & Elias, L.L.P., are licensed to practice in Louisiana (INACTIVE) and Texas. If you have been injured in an offshore accident or a loved one has suffered a wrongful death in a marine vessel 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 or Mr. Elias is ready to answer your questions. They respond to phone calls around the clock, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Lafayette, Louisiana, Maritime Industries
Lafayette is the seat of Lafayette Parish and is the fourth largest city in Louisiana. Located on the Vermillion River, Lafayette is the heart of Cajun country and the center of the oilfield services industry. Many service companies that contract deckboats, crewboats, gunboats, and liftboats to offshore drilling companies or manage fleeting operations have offices in Lafayette, Broussard and New Iberia. The Vermillion River cutoff, near Intracoastal City, connects the Vermillion River with the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. There is an increasing number of barge fleeting operations and barge fleeting facilities on the Intracoastal Waterway
Many Lafayette area residents find employment in jobs related to marine transport and the offshore oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico. But offshore jobs are demanding and dangerous, and serious accidents occur all too often, particularly when companies are cavalier about safety. Deckhands, engineers and other crew on supply boats, towboats and tugs and fleeting tow boats can suffer serious head injuries, back injuries, neck injuries and traumatic brain injuries in a marine accident.
Lafayette, La., OSV Accident Attorney
Lafayette is the base of the oilfield services industry in Louisiana. It is home to more than 900 oil- and gas-related businesses, according to the Lafayette Economic Development Authority. Maritime workers employed by service companies operating out of Lafayette reside in surrounding communities, including Broussard, Breaux Bridge, New Iberia, Maurice and St. Martinville. To the west of Lafayette are the large Texas ports at Port Arthur and Galveston, Texas.
Working offshore is demanding work that must be performed in all weather conditions, including conditions that may be hazardous. An offshore worker may suffer a serious injury if a vessel owner fails to maintain the vessel in seaworthy condition, falls short of safety preparedness or doesn’t provide a well-trained crew.
Among Lafayette area maritime employers and suppliers that hire able-bodied seamen, deckhands, cooks, and mates are: Laborde Marine, L.L.C.; Tobias, Inc.; Bordelon Marine, Inc.; Gulf Fleet; Axxis Drilling of Broussard; and Oilfield Marine Contractors, Inc.
- Aries Marine Corporation, headquartered in Lafayette, owns and operates a fleet of offshore supply vessels, or OSVs, including supply boats and self-elevating workboats, that serve offshore oil and gas production platforms in the Gulf. The platform supply boats include M/V Jamie G, M/V Lauren E, M/V Dakotah Bill, M/V Abigail Claire, M/V Allison, M/V Kylie Williams, M/V Calvin Bayne, M/V Ram Challenger, M/V Ram Charger, M/V Elsa Leigh, M/V Dwight S. Ramsay, and M/V Betty Pfankuch.The self-elevating workboats, also known as liftboats or jack-ups, include the M/V Ram IX, M/V Ram I, M/V Ram III, M/V Ram IV, M/V Ram V, M/V Ram VI, M/V Ram VII, M/V Ram II, M/V Ram VIII, M/V Ram X, M/V Ram XI, M/V Ram XV, M/V Ram XVI, M/V Ram XVII, M/V Ram XII, and M/V Ram XIV. Aries has a warehouse and sales facility in Youngsville, LA.
- Bee Mar LLC has operations offices in Broussard and operates a fleet of platform supply vessels to support deepwater, ultra-deepwater and deep-shelf drilling and production operations. Its vessels include M/V Busy Bee, M/V Honey Bee, M/V Worker Bee, M/V Bayou Bee, M/V Bee Sting, M/V Bumble Bee, M/V Queen Bee, M/V Bee Hive, M/V Mason Bee and M/V Drone Bee.
- Delmar Systems, Inc., based in Broussard, La., provides mooring services to the offshore oil and gas industry, including for offshore mobile drilling units and new deepwater production vessels. Among the maritime workers that Delmar employs are anchor handlers, also called riggers, who work in all types of weather on the back deck of large vessels offshore to retrieve and set anchors for drilling rigs and barges.
Other offshore services companies and offshore contractors based in and around Lafayette include C E Oil Tools & Supply, CAD-Drill, Cajun Well of Breaux Bridge, Complete Oilfield Management, FLO Quip, Inc., Gulf Energy Service, Gulf Chem, Hornback Specialty Company, M & M International of Broussard, M & M Oil Tools of New Iberia, M B Energy, Nabors Offshore, Network Oil, Inc., New Park Drilling Fluids of New Iberia, Omega Service Industry, Oilfield Marine Contractors, LLC, Ryan Energy Technologies, USA, Southwest Oilfield Service, Southwest Rig Service, Stabil Drill Specialties, Inc., of Broussard, Swap, Inc., of Broussard, Systems Design Consultants, T& P Well Testers, Inc. of Broussard, Tetra Applied Electric Wire of Broussard, Tetra Technology, Tomahawk Enterprises, Inc., Tri-Drill Inspection Services of Broussard, Trinity Tools, Tuboscope, Inc., Varco Systems of New Iberia, and Weatherford Pipeline & Special,
If you have been injured in an offshore accident or a marine related accident, talk to a Lafayette maritime accident lawyer who advocates for injured workers.
Lafayette Liftboat Accident Attorneys
Liftboats are considered the workhorses of the Gulf of Mexico offshore oil and gas industry. Also called jack-up boats, liftboats originated in the bayous of South Louisiana as work vessels. They are designed to elevate to the level of an offshore platform for offloading cargo. Liftboats initially were used in shallow water, but they have evolved into deepwater designs as well.
Superior Energy Services, Inc., which provides equipment and marine services to the offshore oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico, has the largest fleet of lift boats, ranging from 150 feet to 265 feet in length; the company has 4,800 employees. Its vessels include M/V Superior Conqueror, Superior Liberty, Superior Future, Superior Endurance, Superior Spirit, Superior Edge, Superior Integrity, Superior Storm, Superior Gale, Superior Champion, Superior Endeavor, Superior Intervention, Superior Victory, Superior Vision, Dixie Legacy, Dixie Endeavor, Superior Influence, Superior Respect, and the derrick barges DB Superior Performance, DB Superior Pride and towing vessel M/V Pacesetter. Superior’s marine services division has offices in New Iberia, LA.
Hercules Offshore, headquartered in Houston, bases its Hercules Liftboats division in Lafayette, La. Hercules has the largest fleet of liftboats in the world. Hercules liftboats provide work platforms to support construction and maintenance to offshore activities.
Accidents involving lift boats and jack-up boats can be serious because of the heavy equipment in use. A seaman can be seriously injured or fatally injured by the carelessness of another crew member or a vessel owner or operator. An experienced Lafayette maritime attorney can advise you of your legal rights if you or a loved one has been injured in a liftboat accident.
Fleeting Operation Injury Attorney
Barge fleeters operate tow boats that shift barges in and out of mooring areas. Tow boat deckhands and mates connect barges traveling in the same direction to form tows and disconnect unmanned barges . Fleeting operations work is dangerous, even for experienced tugboat crew. A deckhand or other crew can get a limb entangled in a mooring cable, or get knocked overboard if a barge breaks away because it was not properly moored. A fleeting operation has a responsibility to prevent barges from breaking out of fleets or from sinking within fleets. A crew member may be injured by an unsecured barge because a towboat crew failed to make sure that the remaining barges are properly moored A barge owner may have delivered an unseaworthy barge. Many head injuries, back injuries and brain injuries during fleeting operations are caused by a lack of attention to safety by a maritime employer.
Call Lafayette, Louisiana, Maritime Accident Attorney
If you are an offshore worker or maritime worker or a tow boat crew member in Lafayette, Broussard, New Iberia or Breaux Bridge and have been injured in a marine-related accident, you have legal rights as a Jones Act seaman or harbor and dock worker under federal law to claim compensation. If you have lost a loved one in a fatal maritime accident, you may have a wrongful death claim. A Lafayette, Louisiana, maritime lawyer at Gordon & Elias, L.L.P., can make sure you receive full compensation after a serious offshore injury.
The attorneys of Gordon & Elias, L.L.P., are maritime lawyers and are licensed to practice in Louisiana (INACTIVE) and Texas. Call 800-773-6770 or fill out the online contact form to receive a free initial consultation. Mr. Gordon or Mr. Elias will be glad to answer your questions.
