All 19 Seacor Power Claims Resolved After Liftboat Capsizes and Kills 13 Gulf Crew
Won by Lambert Zainey.
Appointed co-lead counsel in the federal Limitation of Liability proceedings, Lambert Zainey represented 14 of the 19 people aboard the Seacor Power, resolving all seven Jones Act death claims, six DOHSA claims, and six survivor claims by November 2023.
What happened
On April 13, 2021, the liftboat Seacor Power capsized in the Gulf of Mexico roughly eight miles off Port Fourchon, Louisiana. The 234-foot vessel was carrying 19 crew members to an offshore platform when a rapidly developing storm produced winds of 70 to 80 miles per hour and extremely rough seas. Thirteen people died. Six survived.
The vessel was owned and operated by Falcon Global Offshore II LLC and Seacor Marine LLC. Within weeks of the disaster, the owner entities filed a Limitation of Liability petition in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, seeking to cap their total exposure at approximately $5.67 million, the estimated value of the vessel and its cargo. That figure stood against claims from 13 families of crew members killed or presumed dead, plus six survivors with injury claims.
U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo appointed Lambert Zainey Smith and Soso as co-lead counsel in the consolidated Limitation of Liability proceedings. The firm represented the collective interests of the families and survivors before the court, and individually represented 14 of the 19 people on board, including the widow of the captain who died in the disaster.
The claims fell into three categories under federal maritime law: Jones Act wrongful-death claims for crew members who died in U.S. waters, Death on the High Seas Act claims for those who perished beyond the three-mile territorial limit, and personal injury claims from the six survivors. Each category carried different damage frameworks and different litigation timelines.
The Jones Act death claims were resolved in late April 2022, approximately one year after the capsizing. The DOHSA and survivor claims required additional litigation before reaching resolution. By November 2023, all seven Jones Act death claims, all six DOHSA claims, and all six survivor claims had been settled on confidential terms. Every family and survivor represented in the proceedings received a resolution.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
- 1.The Times-Picayune/Nola.com: Owner of toppled Seacor lift boat settles with crew, families, while contractors fight on·Archived copy
- 2.The Maritime Executive: Seacor Marine sues to limit liability in Seacor Power sinking·Archived copy
- 3.gCaptain: Seacor Power owners file lawsuit to limit liability from deadly capsizing·Archived copy
- 4.Lambert Zainey (firm): Seacor Power capsizing, Lambert Zainey secures resolution for all families·Archived copy
- 5.FOX 8: SEACOR Power search ends as litigation moves forward (July 23, 2021)
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