Thomas Lynn Smith v. Harbor Towing & Fleeting, Inc., Chotin Transportation Co., Inc.

THORNBERRY, Circuit Judge:

This appeal raises the sole issue of whether a Jones Act seaman who is injured while performing seaman’s work aboard a nonemploying shipowner’s vessel can sue the shipowner for unseaworthiness as a Sieracki seaman. We hold that a Jones Act seaman cannot assert a Sieracki unseaworthiness cause of action against a vessel on which he is not a crew member.

Facts and Procedural History

At the time of his injury, plaintiff Thomas Lynn Smith (Smith) was a deckhand and crew member aboard the M/V TODD G, a tug owned and operated by his employer, Harbor Towing and Fleeting, Inc.…