Boarding and disembarking from vessels. Without a second thought, mariners do it day in and day out – – most of the time without any problem.  Occasionally, however, accidents happen. Depending on where or how a slip, a trip or a fall occurs while transiting to or from a vessel, the potential liabilities can be subject to varying legal standards.

It is well settled under the general maritime law that a vessel owner has a fundamental duty to provide its crew members with a reasonably safe means of getting on to and off of the vessel. Just a slight breach of this duty can result in liability for the vessel owner. The duty owed to non-seamen is less onerous and is that of “reasonable care.”

But the maritime law does not impose any particular duty on a dock owner when it comes to safe ingress and egress to vessels.  That doesn’t mean, however, that a property owner cannot be held liable for accidents that occur on its dock, pier or wharf when someone is hurt while transferring to or from a vessel.  Rather, the property owner’s liability is governed by state law.  While the legal standards for dock owners can vary by state, liability is typically determined under general negligence principals.  State laws typically require that shore side facilities take reasonable precautions to prevent accidents and injuries to those who it knows or should anticipate will be using its dock to get on or off vessels. A recent First Circuit Court of Appeals case out of Massachusetts (Cracchiolo v. Eastern Fisheries, Inc.) recognized that the owner and leaseholder of a pier could be legally responsible for the fatal accident to a fisherman who slipped and fell on an icy area of their dock, which was described as “obviously hazardous.”

The routine nature of boarding and disembarking from vessels does not make that activity less risky to even the most experienced mariners. Because both maritime law and state laws impose legal obligations on vessel operators and property owners, careful attention should be given to the methods vessel personnel may use for ingress and egress to avoid accidents and mitigate liability exposure.

This article first appeared in WorkBoat Magazine.