Factory Trawler

This work is dangerous and demanding. Factory trawlers are often so busy our clients tell us there is no time for pain; no time for friends. This is true whether you work above deck, below deck as a processor, or as an engineer.

Processors are working in some of the most dangerous conditions imaginable, producing some of the worst maritime injuries.

In our work representing processors working aboard factory trawlers, we have seen virtually every injury imaginable, some of which are so traumatic we will not retell here what happened.

Factory trawlers are extraordinarily dangerous places to work. The machinery is often crammed into nook and cranny on the vessel, and run to the maximum. Many times, safety equipment has been removed, including guards and covers, to speed up operations. Fatigue is also a cause of many accidents; it's common for processors aboard factory trawlers to work 16 to 18 hours a day, seven days a week.

Processors working aboard factory trawlers are protected under Federal laws which are often complex. These benefits often exceed what is available under a State workers compensation program and can include the right to recover for pain and suffering, long-term and short-term disability, all expenses related to medical treatment, wages to the end of the contract immediately payable, and a living expense while under medical treatment.

Claims adjusters or company representatives may not be as interested in your rights as they are in saving their company money. You need a good attorney on your side.

With over 60 years combined experience, we have helped thousands of processors recover their benefits. We typically do not charge for benefits related to medical cure, maintenance, or wages to the end of the contract. All other work is done strictly on a contingency fee basis.

Deckhand, Engineer, Wheelhouse
We also represent officers, deckhands and others working in the wheelhouse on factory trawlers. While the work above deck is different from that of the processor, it is no less dangerous and, in many cases, more dangerous than vessels of similar size in the merchant marine. Factory trawler work on deck, or in engineering, is also very dangerous work.

Seamen injured on deck, in the wheelhouse or as an engineer on factory trawlers are usually entitled to full seamen's benefits. Just as in the case of processors, they are entitled to recover for pain and suffering, loss of earnings, including future loss of earnings, full and complete medical benefits and treatment requirements, as well as immediate payment of wages to the end of the contract and maintenance, a living expense. Many factory trawler workers on deck are also led to believe that benefits are limited to workers compensation programs, when substantial additional benefits are available, usually just for the asking, under applicable Federal law.

Our factory trawler clients, like our processor clients, are spread out literally all over the world. We have clients in Mexico, South America, and Africa, many Southern and Midwestern states, as well as California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii.

What you don't know about how the law protects you in case of maritime injury can be expensive. You wouldn't sign on to a contract with an inexperienced skipper. You wouldn’t want to sign on with an inexperienced maritime injury attorney.