Maintenance and Cure

Category: legal

An absolute, non-fault maritime legal doctrine requiring a vessel owner to provide financial support and complete medical care to an injured seaman.

Maintenance and cure is an ancient maritime obligation that activates completely independent of vessel owner negligence. \"Maintenance\" represents a daily living allowance to cover housing, utilities, and food equivalent to what the sailor received while onboard. \"Cure\" requires the shipowner to pay all medical expenses up until the seaman reaches Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI). If an owner willfully fails to pay these tabs, they face punitive damages and attorney fee assignments.

Common Examples

• The vessel owner was forced to cover the engineer's private rehabilitation bills under the absolute doctrine of maintenance and cure.
• Our automated claims ledger flags offshore injury records to instantly trigger mandatory daily maintenance payouts before formal liability investigations compile.