You don’t have to be a literary fan of “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” “Moby Dick,” or “Old Man and the Sea” to know that the ocean can be both beautiful and perilous. You do not need the poetry or prose of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Herman Melville, or Ernest Hemingway to explain to you the lure and the danger of large bodies of water. You just need to sit on a beach, a sandbar, or a manmade dam to understand the sights, the sounds, and the power of uncontrolled water.
A maritime injury lawyer and coast guard officials across the world know the danger and excitement of any ocean travel or of any commercial shipping adventure. The waters of this world help transport both people and products from one continent to another on a daily basis. And when the travel is good, it can be glorious. When the travel is bad, however, it can be both costly and deadly.
At its best, the ocean and the waterways allow the safe operation and usage of 360 commercial U.S. ports, which take in international goods worth $1.73 trillion in 2011. In fact, the U.S. relies on shipping to bring in two-thirds of its oil supply. At its worst, according to U.S. Coast Guard data, these same waters involve 3,000 injuries and 651 deaths in the 4,515 boating accidents in 2012. These numbers do not even take into account the lives that are lost on the open seas, or the products that disappear into the deep waters. Navigating the turmoil that ensues when things go wrong on the water, a maritime injury lawyer understands the ramifications of lives that are changed and lost in the water.
Litigation attorneys can help you or your company recover from loss and damages that occur on, or near, the water. If, for instance, a company loses an entire shipment of goods to the ocean because of faulty containers, a maritime attorney can help you settle for the damages. In the case of property lost at sea because of the negligence of a shipping company, a probate litigation attorney can help your company recover lost assets and revenue.
If you or a loved one is hurt or killed in the water, a maritime injury lawyer can help your family recover financially from the situation. Recreational boating can be an especially dangerous time on the water. In fact, the total property damage caused by recreational boating accidents in America in the year 2014 alone amounted to $38.87 million. Because the most common cause of the 563 boating accidents in 2014 was operator inattention, a person or group of people are usually at fault. Personal injury lawyers can help you recover the cost of hospital bills and other damages in many of these kinds of cases.
The sea and waterways of the world are the site of both grand and disastrous events. Make sure that you are prepared for both.
