SHIP REPAIR
A Worker's Story
Of Asbestos Tragedy

Asbestos fibers on father’s ship repair work clothes infiltrate home and sicken family.

April 14, 2009 - Ship repair workers are at a great risk for asbestos exposure and asbestos-related diseases. For decades, going back to the 19th century, the U.S. shipping industry heavily relied on the fire-retardant properties of asbestos during construction.

To offset the possibility of fire at sea, especially during wartime, ships were lathered with asbestos insulation materials that aged poorly. Overtime, as the asbestos materials dried out, ships needed repair work or decommissioning. Shipyard workers were regularly dusted with airborne asbestos fibers during their work.

Their work clothes became magnets for asbestos dust, and the vehicle by which asbestos entered workers’ homes. Innocent family members were regularly exposed to the deadly fibers, and many died of asbestos-related diseases. This sad situation was repeated in thousands of workers’ homes for decades until new asbestos decontaminating home clothing guidelines were established.

A son shares his family’s anguish . . .

A surviving member of one such family wrote in to tell our mesothelioma lawyers his story, and to seek legal recourse. His father repaired damaged ships in the Galveston, Tex., shipyards during WWII. The son writes:

“My father died in 1975 of lung cancer blamed on asbestos and fiberglass insulation. Three of his four children were exposed over a period of several years to fibers on father's work clothes, which he did not change out of until bedtime. His youngest daughter lost one lobe of a lung to lung cancer. The younger son died of lung cancer, which metastasized to the brain, in 1999. I was diagnosed in January of 2006 with inoperable lung cancer, and have lesions of both lungs and probably both adrenal glands. I am still in treatment and on oxygen 24/7. My stamina is nearly non-existent, with a substantial weight loss. I have emphysema/COPD, as well. Please send the booklet you offer, and your initial response to the above history and the likelihood of a successful judgment for my circumstances. I will leave a now-68-year-old wife, and a disabled daughter of 48. Thank you.”

Weitz & Luxenberg – We’re here for you.

Medical studies show that 86 percent of workers with 20 or more years of shipbuilding experience suffer from an asbestos-related disease, which is often fatal.

If your family is going through a similar ordeal, and you seek a free consultation to evaluate your eligibility to receive financial compensation for an asbestos injury, we urge you to contact Weitz & Luxenberg today through the communication form on this page. Weitz & Luxenberg specializes in asbestos litigation. During more than 20 years of practice, the law firm has achieved record-breaking verdicts and settlements for its clients.