On the day you were injured, you heard bad weather was approaching. You and several of your fellow seamen asked your ship’s master to allow you to work onshore, but they refused.
Now that you are out of work until you have recovered, you have no income. Changing the day’s work plans would have been a better choice.
Those gale winds resulted in your injuries
Gale winds exist when sustained winds — not gusts — are between 34 and 47 knots. These winds are usually associated with non-tropical storms over coastal waters and waters close to land.
If your master had taken the correct actions after hearing the gale warning, you and your fellow seamen would not have been hurt.
By making you work in bad weather, your master was negligent
Learning why failure of your ship’s master to carry out a certain action meant they were negligent can help you to understand what to look for in the future.
Aside from ignoring heavy weather, failing to train staff, provide proper gear and not enforcing safety measures can also mean the master is negligent.
Weather conditions do change quickly — but this is no excuse
Attentive ship’s masters listen to weather reports and they make the necessary changes to keep you and your fellow seamen safe if the weather is going to be bad. Usually, bad weather events have wind speeds that go higher than are safe for vessels on the water.
This means that your master’s negligence can lead to legal claims.