Florida maritime law is primarily federal law applied to incidents on navigable waters, and the rules that govern your situation depend on who you are in the picture: an injured crew member, a dock worker, a cruise passenger, a recreational boater, a vessel owner, or someone owed money for work on a boat. Each category has its own statute, its own deadlines, and its own idea of what you can recover. The one thing they share is that ordinary Florida personal injury rules often don’t apply, even when the case is filed in a Florida courthouse.
Where Your Case Gets Filed
Article III, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution extends federal judicial power to “all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction.”1Congress.gov. Article III Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution The incident generally needs to occur on navigable waters, which covers the Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, the Intracoastal Waterway, major rivers, and many of Florida’s larger lakes and canals.
Federal district courts have original jurisdiction, but a provision known as the “saving to suitors” clause in 28 U.S.C. § 1333 lets injured people bring many maritime claims in state court instead.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S.C. 1333 – Admiralty, Maritime and Prize Cases The important thing to understand is that filing in a Florida state court does not change the substantive law. The judge still applies federal maritime law. You get a choice of courthouse, not a choice of rules.
One category stays locked in federal court: in rem actions, which are suits against the vessel itself rather than against a person. If you need a vessel physically seized to enforce a maritime lien, only a federal court can authorize that.3Congress.gov. Exclusivity of Federal Admiralty and Maritime Jurisdiction
If You Were Hurt Working on the Water
Jones Act Claims for Seamen
The Jones Act, codified at 46 U.S.C. § 30104, lets seamen who are hurt on the job sue their employer for negligence with a jury trial.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 46 USC 30104 – Personal Injury to or Death of Seamen The standard is unusually favorable: you only need to show the employer’s negligence played any part, however small, in causing the injury.
Not every worker on the water is a seaman. The Supreme Court set a two-part test in Chandris, Inc. v. Latsis (1995). Your duties must contribute to the function of a vessel or help accomplish its mission, and you must have a substantial connection to a vessel in navigation in both duration and nature.5Legal Information Institute. Chandris, Inc. v. Latsis, 515 U.S. 347 (1995) The Court endorsed a rough guideline from the lower courts: spending less than about 30 percent of your work time aboard a vessel in navigation generally knocks you out of seaman status. That percentage is measured across your whole employment with that employer, not just the trip where you got hurt.
Maintenance and Cure
Separate from any negligence claim, an injured seaman is entitled to “maintenance and cure” from the employer regardless of fault. Maintenance is a daily living allowance for food and lodging while you recover on shore. Cure covers necessary medical treatment until you reach maximum medical improvement, the point where further treatment won’t produce additional recovery. The employer owes these benefits even if the injury was partly your fault. The main exceptions are injuries that were deliberately self-inflicted or caused by concealing a pre-existing condition during hiring.
Employers who unreasonably refuse or delay these payments can face punitive damages, which is one of the few corners of maritime law where punitive damages remain available.
Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation
Maritime workers who don’t meet the seaman test often fall under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act. It covers dock workers, ship repairers, and harbor construction workers injured on navigable waters or adjoining areas such as piers, wharves, and dry docks.6U.S. Department of Labor. 33 U.S.C. 901-950 – Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act The LHWCA explicitly excludes vessel crew members, which reinforces the Jones Act dividing line.
The LHWCA works like workers’ compensation. You get medical coverage and wage replacement without having to prove the employer was negligent, and in exchange the LHWCA is your exclusive remedy against the employer.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 33 U.S. Code 905 – Exclusiveness of Liability You can still sue a negligent third party, like the manufacturer of a defective piece of equipment, while collecting LHWCA benefits from your employer.
If You Were a Passenger or Recreational Boater
Charter boat passengers and recreational boaters hurt in collisions bring general maritime negligence claims. The analysis looks like a standard personal injury case, but it runs on federal maritime law instead of Florida tort law.
The statute of limitations for most maritime personal injury and wrongful death claims is three years from the date the cause of action arose.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 46 USC 30106 – Time Limit on Bringing Maritime Action for Personal Injury or Death That three-year window applies to Jones Act claims and general maritime torts alike. Cruise ship passengers face much shorter deadlines, discussed next.
Cruise Ship Injuries
Florida hosts the world’s largest cruise port operations and most major cruise lines are headquartered in Miami. If you are injured on a cruise, the ticket you bought is a contract that sharply limits when, where, and how you can sue.
Nearly every major cruise contract contains a forum selection clause requiring suit in a specific court, almost always in South Florida. Carnival’s contract, for example, requires that disputes “shall be litigated, if at all, before the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami.”9Carnival Cruise Line. Cruise Ticket Contract The Supreme Court upheld these clauses decades ago. Where you live or where the ship was when you were hurt doesn’t matter.
The deadlines are where most cruise claims die. While the general maritime limitations period is three years, cruise contracts typically impose a one-year deadline to file suit and a six-month deadline to send the cruise line formal written notice of your claim. These clocks run from the date of the injury, not the end of the cruise, and courts enforce them. Reading the ticket contract and marking those dates should be the first thing you do.
If Someone Died at Sea
When someone dies from a wrongful act on the high seas beyond three nautical miles from the U.S. shore, the Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA) provides the exclusive remedy. Only the decedent’s personal representative can bring the claim, and it must be filed for the benefit of a spouse, parent, child, or dependent relative.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 46 USC 30302 – Cause of Action
DOHSA limits recovery to “fair compensation for the pecuniary loss” the surviving family members sustained.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 46 U.S. Code 30303 – Amount and Apportionment of Recovery That means financial losses only: lost income, lost support, and funeral expenses. Pain and suffering, loss of companionship, and grief are not recoverable. For deaths within three nautical miles of shore, general maritime wrongful death law or Florida’s wrongful death statute may apply instead, and those can allow broader categories of damages.
If You Own a Vessel Facing a Claim
Federal law lets vessel owners cap total liability for an incident at the post-accident value of the vessel plus any pending freight. The doctrine, rooted in 46 U.S.C. § 30505, was designed to encourage shipping investment by limiting catastrophic exposure. A boat that sinks and is nearly worthless afterward can anchor a very small liability number.
The limitation is not automatic. The owner must file a petition in federal court within six months of receiving written notice of a claim. The cap also only applies if the owner shows the incident occurred without their “privity or knowledge,” meaning they were not personally involved in or aware of the conditions that caused the accident. Hiring a captain you knew was incompetent, or ignoring a known mechanical defect, will strip the cap away. On smaller vessels where the owner is also the operator, proving lack of privity or knowledge is very hard, because the owner was right there when things went wrong.
If You Are Owed Money for Work on a Vessel
A maritime lien is a claim against the vessel itself, separate from any claim against the owner. These liens arise automatically when someone provides “necessaries” to a vessel on the order of the owner or an authorized person. Necessaries include fuel, repairs, supplies, towage, and similar goods and services that keep a vessel operating.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 46 U.S. Code 31342 – Establishing Maritime Liens No filing is required. The lien attaches the moment the service or goods are provided.
Enforcement happens through vessel arrest under Supplemental Rule C of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. You file a verified complaint in federal district court, and if the court finds the conditions met, it issues a warrant directing the U.S. Marshal to seize the vessel.13Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule C – In Rem Actions: Special Provisions The vessel stays in the Marshal’s custody until the owner posts a bond or the lien is resolved. Because only federal courts can order arrest, this remedy is unavailable in state court, and it is the most powerful collection tool available against a mobile asset that could otherwise sail out of the jurisdiction.
Boating Under the Influence
Florida treats operating a vessel while impaired much like driving a car drunk. Under Florida Statutes § 327.35, you commit boating under the influence (BUI) if you operate a vessel with a blood-alcohol or breath-alcohol level of 0.08 or higher, or if alcohol or drugs impair your normal faculties.14Florida Senate. Florida Statutes Chapter 327 Section 35 A first offense carries a $500 to $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail, with penalties escalating for repeat offenses, higher BAC levels, and having a minor aboard. A third offense within 10 years, or a fourth offense at any point, becomes a third-degree felony. Beyond the criminal consequences, a BUI conviction creates serious problems for any injury claim arising from the same incident, because evidence of intoxication can reduce or eliminate your recovery.
Boating Accident Reporting
Florida law requires the operator of any vessel in an accident to file a written report with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission when the accident causes bodily injury, death, disappearance, or property damage of at least $2,000.15Florida Senate. Florida Statutes Chapter 327 Section 301 If the operator cannot file, the owner must. The timing follows the federal schedule in 33 C.F.R. § 173.55: generally within 48 hours for injuries and within 10 days for property-damage-only accidents.
Failing to file is a noncriminal infraction, but the real cost is evidentiary. The report is an official record of what happened, and losing that record makes a later injury claim much harder to prove.
Environmental Liability
Vessel owners and operators face substantial federal liability for oil spills and other pollution on Florida’s waters. The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 makes the responsible party liable for all removal costs plus a broad range of damages, including harm to natural resources, lost profits for affected businesses, and increased costs of public services like fire and safety response.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 33 USC 2702 – Elements of Liability
The Clean Water Act separately regulates sewage discharges from vessels through Marine Sanitation Device requirements enforced by the EPA and Coast Guard.17U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Vessel Sewage Discharges – Statutes, Regulations, and Related Laws and Treaties Florida’s coastal ecosystems, including the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, draw aggressive enforcement. OPA liability can reach not just the registered owner but anyone who directs or controls the vessel’s movement, so charterers and operators can face the same cleanup obligations.
Registration, Titling, and Federal Documentation
Most recreational and smaller commercial vessels in Florida must be titled and registered under Florida Statutes Chapters 327 and 328, with applications processed through a county tax collector or license plate agent. You get a hull registration number and a validation decal that requires renewal.
Vessels of at least five net tons may qualify for federal documentation through the U.S. Coast Guard instead of state titling.18Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 46 USC 12103 – General Eligibility Requirements Documentation is required for most larger commercial vessels and is available to pleasure vessels, particularly those operating internationally. The vessel must be wholly owned by U.S. citizens or qualifying U.S. entities and cannot be documented under a foreign country’s laws. A federally documented vessel is exempt from Florida titling, but it still needs a Florida registration and the state decal to operate on Florida waters. Documentation serves as the title; the state registration handles local regulatory and tax obligations.
Florida also imposes sales and use tax on vessel purchases, including vessels bought out of state and brought into Florida waters. Rates, caps, and any trade-in credits are worth confirming with the Florida Department of Revenue before closing.