If you are injured or become ill while working on the river in the service of a vessel, the employer is bound by this law to compensate injured workers for:

• Transportation: cost to transport the injured worker to a medical facility
• Wages: to be paid until the vessel’s trip is complete
• Maintenance: onshore room and board expenses, typically $20 to $45 a day, to be paid while the employee is off work by doctor’s orders
• Cure: medical expenses for a doctor of the employee’s choice, paid up to the point of maximum medical cure-the point at which the condition will no longer improve despite further medical treatment, as with permanent disability

If the injury resulted from negligence on the part of the employer, the courts may award you an additional sum for pain and suffering, lost wages, and other damages under the Jones Act.