Maritime Jurisdiction: What Counts as Navigable Waters
Whether maritime law applies to your injury is not decided by how far from shore you were. It is decided by jurisdiction: whether the incident occurred on navigable waters and bears a connection to maritime activity. That single question can change your deadline, your court, and what you are allowed to recover, which is why it is usually the first fight in a maritime case.
What Are Navigable Waters?
Under the test American courts have used since the 19th century, a waterway is navigable if it can serve as a continued highway for interstate or foreign commerce. The Gulf of Mexico, the Houston Ship Channel, and the Mississippi River qualify. A landlocked lake that sits entirely within one state generally does not. The test is about the waterway’s capacity for commerce, not what you were doing on it, which is why maritime law can apply even to recreational vessels on navigable water.
State Court or Federal Court? The Saving to Suitors Clause
Admiralty jurisdiction belongs to the federal courts under 28 U.S.C. § 1333, but the same statute contains the “saving to suitors” clause, which preserves an injured worker’s right to pursue most maritime claims in state court. State courts hearing those claims must still apply federal maritime law.
For an injured seaman, this choice is strategic. Where a case is heard affects the jury pool, the schedule, and sometimes the outcome. It is one of the first decisions we make in every case, and one of the reasons experience in Harris County, Galveston County, and the Southern District of Texas matters.
How Far Out Does U.S. Law Reach?
Get the Jurisdiction Question Answered Early
Companies exploit jurisdictional confusion. They classify workers to avoid the Jones Act, argue for forums that favor them, and run out clocks while workers sort out which law applies. If you were hurt on or near the water anywhere in the Gulf, have a Houston maritime lawyer answer the jurisdiction question before the company answers it for you.
