Undefeated Offshore Injury Lawyers
There was nothing unusual about the morning of April 13, 2021, when 19 men boarded the Seacor Power liftboat in Port Fourchon, Louisiana. With the weather forecast calling for light winds, the trip to a Talos Energy drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico should have been uneventful.
But by mid-afternoon, the 175-foot vessel had capsized in rough seas just seven miles from shore. Only six of those aboard would make it off alive.
Sadly, the Seacor Power tragedy was the deadliest liftboat accident to occur in U.S. waters over the last two decades, one of a handful of incidents that have claimed at least 17 lives since 2011.
Why Are Liftboats So Vulnerable at Sea?
Liftboats are ubiquitous in the Gulf of Mexico and just about anywhere else offshore drilling takes place.
These three- or four-legged, self-propelled, and self-elevating vessels are not only critical for transporting offshore workers and equipment to and from sites far from the coast; they’re also designed to convert to stable platforms once they arrive at their destinations, extending their legs to the seafloor and lifting their hulls above the waterline.
Unfortunately, the same features that make a liftboat so versatile also make it vulnerable, particularly in rough seas. When in transit, their fat hulls and high center of gravity make them highly susceptible to sudden, catastrophic loss of stability as conditions deteriorate. Once elevated, a sudden leg failure or seabed collapse can overturn a seemingly stable liftboat in just a matter of minutes.
Recent Liftboat Accidents: Rare But Catastrophic
While liftboat accidents are thankfully rare, they tend to be catastrophic when something goes wrong: sudden capsizing, severe structural damage, and crew and passengers being thrown overboard are all too common outcomes.
Trinity II: September 8, 2011
Four American crewmembers and six Geokinetics contractors were aboard the U.S.-flagged liftboat Trinity II when Hurricane Nate caused its stern jacking leg to fail in the Bay of Campeche, 50 miles off the Mexican coast. With the hull listing severely, the master ordered all 10 men to abandon ship. Tragically, four would die after spending days adrift in a life raft. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) later determined neither the vessel owner nor the chartering company had adequately planned for a rapidly developing low-pressure system.
Ram XVIII: November 18, 2018
Five crewmembers and ten offshore workers were aboard the elevated liftboat Ram XVIII in the Gulf of Mexico about 15 miles south-southeast of Grand Isle, Louisiana, when the port leg punched through the unstable seabed at 2 a.m. The vessel listed severely, throwing crew from their bunks. While all aboard were eventually rescued, three were hurt and the Ram XVIII was declared a total loss. Sadly, the crew had been provided with inadequate information about seafloor conditions and was therefore unaware that the port leg had landed near a documented can hole.
Kristin Faye: September 8, 2019
The liftboat Kristin Faye was servicing an oil production platform approximately 18 miles east of Venice, Louisiana, when the captain raised one of the vessel’s boom cranes, causing its center of gravity to shift toward the port forward leg and the seabed to give way. One crew member was injured while evacuating the overturned vessel. According to NTSB investigators, an inadequate preload procedure that failed to account for crane movements and planned load weights was used.
Seacor Power: April 13, 2021
When the Seacor Power left Port Fourchon at approximately 1:30 p.m., the weather forecast predicted afternoon winds of 9 to 12 knots with three-foot seas. But at about 3:30 p.m., a squall passed over the ship, causing visibility to drop and winds to rapidly increase. Although the crew moved quickly to lower the vessel’s legs to hold position until the storm passed, they were unable to complete the maneuver before the Seacor Power heeled to starboard and capsized.
L/B Robert: November 20, 2022
The liftboat L/B Robert was elevated alongside an oil platform about 80 miles southeast of Lake Charles, Louisiana, when gale-force winds and high wave action transferred significant forces down the vessel’s legs, deteriorating the seabed foundation beneath them. The boat tilted dangerously. Fortunately, the crew had safely evacuated two days earlier, but structural damage totaled $6.9 million. The NTSB’s investigation found that environmental conditions had exceeded the vessel’s operational limits, the same finding the board had made in the Seacor Power tragedy just a year before.
Brazos: August 11, 2024
Two crewmembers were injured when a fire broke out aboard the liftboat Brazos, operated by Laredo Offshore Services, approximately 40 miles offshore from Marsh Island, Louisiana. A Coast Guard helicopter hoisted both men and transported them to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Lafayette. According to federal investigators, a combination of critical procedural failures, equipment malfunctions, and communication failures led to the fire.
What Causes Liftboat Accidents and Fatalities?
Liftboat accidents can occur for any number of reasons. But in our experience, many of the most common causes and contributors are entirely preventable and only occur because a vessel owner or other maritime company failed to ensure the safety of passengers and crew.
Severe Weather and Stability Failures
Liftboats in transit are particularly vulnerable to sudden, severe weather, especially in the Gulf of Mexico, where thunderstorm systems and microbursts can pop up unexpectedly. The Seacor Power, for example, encountered winds more than eight times stronger than the morning forecast predicted, with conditions deteriorating faster than the crew could respond.
Inadequate Weather Forecasting and Information Systems
Forecasters never saw the squall that hit Seacor Power coming because the nearest radar station was in Slidell. At that distance, they could only detect conditions at altitudes thousands of feet above the actual storm. A Coast Guard equipment malfunction also prevented a Special Marine Warning issued for the area from reaching the vessel.
Seabed Instability and Leg Punch-Through
The ocean floor is littered with silt deposits, mud ledges, and subsurface voids that can suddenly give way under the weight of an elevated vessel, a phenomenon known as a punch-through that can cause a liftboat to topple in seconds.
Inadequate Preload Procedures
A preload test is supposed to verify that the seabed can support a liftboat’s weight before the vessel fully jacks up. However, these tests may fail to account for the crane movements and load distributions the vessel will actually encounter during operations.
Defective or Poorly Maintained Equipment
It’s crucial that cranes, jacking mechanisms and other equipment aboard a liftboat work as expected, even under less-than-ideal conditions. When vessel owners fail to maintain that equipment or allow known defects to go unaddressed, the results can be catastrophic for everyone aboard.
Inadequate Lifesaving Equipment
When the Seacor Power capsized, none of those aboard had personal locator beacons — inexpensive devices that transmit a survivor’s location directly to rescue services. In 40-knot winds and 12-foot seas, Coast Guard rescuers couldn’t find people in the water. Unfortunately, while the NTSB has since recommended their use, beacons aren’t actually required aboard liftboats
Your Legal Rights After a Liftboat Accident
Offshore workers and crew injured in a liftboat accident are entitled to compensation in accordance with the applicable maritime law.
If You Are a Liftboat Crew Member
Crew members who contribute to the function or mission of the vessel and spend a significant portion of their working time aboard it qualify as seamen under the Jones Act, which allows them to pursue:
- Maintenance and cure: A no-fault right to daily living expenses and all reasonable medical care from the day of your injury until you’ve recovered as much as you’re going to. No proof of negligence is required to receive maintenance and cure benefits.
- Jones Act negligence claims: The right to sue your employer for negligence — inadequate weather forecasting, pressure to sail in dangerous conditions, failure to maintain equipment, failure to equip the vessel with personal locator beacons. Under the Jones Act, negligence only has to have played any part, however slight, in causing your injury.
- Unseaworthiness claims: The right to sue the vessel owner for unsafe vessel conditions—defective equipment, inadequate crew, structural failures and leg system defects. No proof that the owner knew about the condition is required to win an unseaworthiness claim— only that an unsafe condition existed and contributed to your injury.
- Third-party negligence claims: If a party other than your employer or vessel owner — a company, equipment manufacturer, or contractor — contributed to your injury, you may have negligence claims against them as well.
If You’re Not a Jones Act Seaman
Offshore workers aboard a liftboat who don’t qualify as Jones Act seamen still have important legal protections under maritime law, including:
- The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA): Extends the protections of the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act to workers injured on the Outer Continental Shelf in connection with oil and gas operations. Provides compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, disability, and death benefits — without requiring proof of negligence.
- Third-party negligence claims: Even under OCSLA, workers may pursue negligence claims against parties other than their direct employer — including the vessel owner, a charter company, or a contractor whose conduct contributed to the accident.
If You Are a Surviving Family Member
When a liftboat accident results in a worker’s death in U.S. territorial waters, surviving spouses and children have the right to file unseaworthiness and Jones Act wrongful death claims. If their loved one died more than three nautical miles from shore, they can also seek compensation for lost financial support, loss of services, and funeral and burial expenses under the Death on the High Seas Act.
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