Texas Barge Accident Lawyer

Barges move an estimated 630 million tons of cargo through Texas waters every year — petroleum, petrochemicals, agricultural products, steel, and cement along the Houston Ship Channel, the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, the Sabine-Neches Waterway, and the Gulf of Mexico. A working barge is a dangerous environment: unstable decks, heavy hatches, caustic cargoes, exposed rigging, fast-moving tow lines, and catastrophic consequences when a barge allision hits a platform, bridge, or vessel. A Texas barge accident lawyer at McFarlane Law handles the full range of barge injury claims — Jones Act, unseaworthiness, Section 905(b), and general maritime negligence.

How Texas Barge Accidents Happen

The most common serious barge injuries include man-overboard incidents during line-handling, slips and falls on oily or uneven decks, caught-in-between injuries during mooring and breakaway evolutions, crush injuries when hatches or covers close on workers, and toxic exposure to fumes and vapors from liquid cargo. Allisions — where a tow strikes a fixed object like a dock, platform, or bridge — can cause catastrophic vessel damage, injuries to crew, and shore-side claims. Barge casualties often involve trip hazards that the crew has lived with for months, inadequate lighting, fatigue caused by watch schedules, and missing PFDs or inadequate fall protection. Texas barge accidents also include incidents at loading and unloading facilities, where the dock worker is typically LHWCA-covered and the barge is potentially liable under Section 905(b).

Who Is Liable in a Texas Barge Injury Case

Barge liability often involves multiple companies. The vessel owner is liable for unseaworthiness. The tow operator (typically a separate company from the barge owner) is liable under the Jones Act for crew injuries and under general maritime negligence for allisions. The cargo owner can be liable for failing to warn of hazardous cargo properties. Terminal operators and dock facilities are liable under state and maritime law for unsafe berths, loading/unloading procedures, and shore-based hazards. McFarlane Law’s first task in every barge case is identifying each party whose negligence contributed — and issuing preservation letters before vessel logs, ECDIS data, VDR (voyage data recorder) audio, and maintenance records are lost.

Allision Cases: The Oregon Rule and Who Pays

When a moving barge strikes a fixed object — a dock, platform, bridge, or anchored vessel — maritime law applies the presumption of fault to the moving vessel. This is the Oregon Rule. The moving tow must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that it was not at fault; otherwise, liability attaches automatically. Allision cases often involve property damage claims, personal injury claims by crew of both vessels or platform workers, and business interruption claims by terminal operators. The damages can be enormous — the 2019 Sabine-Neches bridge allision produced over $200 million in claims. McFarlane Law represents individuals hurt in allisions and has handled cases where the injured worker was on the allided platform, not the vessel itself.

Evidence in Barge Cases and the Vessel Master’s Report

Every serious barge incident triggers a Coast Guard investigation and a mandatory “Report of Marine Casualty” on Form 2692. That report, along with the vessel master’s statement, the crew’s initial statements, VDR audio, ECDIS data, AIS track records, and Coast Guard enforcement actions, becomes central evidence in the civil case. Photographs from the crew, from Coast Guard response boats, and from aerial drones (often deployed for major allisions) provide visual documentation. Weather data from nearby buoys can disprove “act of God” defenses. Engine room logs and maintenance records reveal whether the tow was mechanically fit. The sooner McFarlane Law is retained, the more of this evidence we can preserve through litigation-hold demands.

Related Practice Areas

Related: Texas tugboat injury lawyer, Texas Jones Act lawyer, unseaworthy vessel lawyer, Texas dock worker lawyer, Texas wrongful death lawyer. Hub: Texas maritime injury lawyer.

Talk to a Texas Injury Lawyer Today

If you were hurt on a Texas barge or in a barge allision, call McFarlane Law before you give any statement to the tow operator’s insurer. Free consultation. Austin (512) 222-4900, Odessa (432) 803-5000.