Who is a “seaman”?
The rights of seamen and other maritime workers and their survivors to recover for illness, personal injury or wrongful death depends greatly upon the category in which the law classifies the worker as either a seaman or other maritime worker. The key to seaman status is connection to a vessel in navigation. However, it is not necessary that a seaman aid in navigation or contribute to the navigation of the vessel, but a seaman must be doing the ship’s work. This means that the definition of seaman may be considerably broader than those who actually navigate the vessel or maintain the vessel’s engines. It can also apply in certain cases to those who contribute to the function of the vessel but not to its navigation, such as hotel staff workers aboard cruise ships, hair dressers, bartenders, musicians, and even dealers on gambling vessels.
