Herd Law Firm, PLLC

05/25/2026

The Strait of Hormuz — the narrow waterway that carries 20% of the world's oil — now has a new self-declared gatekeeper: Iran just launched an official authority claiming the power to permit — or deny — commercial transit through the Strait of Hormuz. There's no international law backing that up — but there are missiles and mines. Here's what it means if you move cargo through the Gulf.🚢⚖️

Tehran has launched a formal permission regime over the Strait of Hormuz. Here’s what it means for shipowners, operators, and seafarers — and why the legal risks may outlast the geopolitics. The Strait of Hormuz has always been a chokepoint — a narrow neck of water, barely 21 miles wide at its...

05/20/2026

🚤⚖️ National Safe Boating Week is May 16–22! 556 boating fatalities in the U.S. in 2024 — the lowest in 50 years. But 87% of those who drowned weren't wearing a life jacket. This year, we can do even better!

National Safe Boating Week is May 16–22, 2026! Safety can be simple, and summer is almost here. Every May, right before Memorial Day weekend turns Texas lakes into a beautiful, chaotic maze of pontoons and jet skis, the National Safe Boating Council runs its annual safety wake-up call, and this ye...

05/16/2026

Six workers lost their lives when the M/V DALI collided with the Key Bridge in Baltimore. Shipowners tried to cap liability at $43.7 million under a U.S. law from 1851, but Maryland walked away with the largest maritime settlement in U.S. history — $2.25 billion.
We break down what happened, and why it matters. 🌉

The largest U.S. maritime legal recovery in history — and what every maritime professional should understand about how we got here. On March 26, 2024, the containership M/V Dali struck Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, killing six construction workers causing the total collapse of the bridge a...

05/15/2026

When someone gets sick or hurt at sea, "who's in charge?" may have a complicated answer. The MV Hondius outbreak is a real-time lesson in how international maritime law and repatriation during a health crisis actually works — and where it falls short.🌊🚢

Three passengers are dead, and a hundred and fifty people are quarantined across a dozen countries. The legal questions are just getting started. The M/V Hondius is an expedition cruise ship, taking passengers to remote corners of the world that most people see only in documentaries. But lately, it....

05/12/2026

A 1920 shipping law meets a 2026 energy crisis!
The White House has extended its Jones Act waiver through mid-August. If you move cargo, insure vessels, or work on the water, this affects you! We break down what the Jones Act waiver extension actually changes — and what it doesn't — for maritime businesses, mariners, and seafarers everywhere. 🌊

The Trump administration has extended its Jones Act waiver through mid-August. Here’s what it means for maritime commerce, and for the workers who keep it moving. In late April 2026, the White House extended its Jones Act waiver by 90 days, pushing the expiration from May 17 to mid-August 2026. Th...

05/11/2026

Hundreds of stranded oil tankers, cargo vessels and more. 20,000 stranded sailors. One international law question nobody's wants to ask: who's getting them home? ⚓

Twenty thousand seafarers are stranded in the Persian Gulf, caught between two blockades and a war they didn’t start. Here’s what the law says — and what their employers owe them. An old saying among mariners says that the sea takes no notice of your plans. Nowhere is that truer right now than

04/29/2026

After WWII, the U.S. controlled 60% of the world's merchant tonnage. Today? We have fewer than 100 ships in international commerce. China has 5,500.

Something is finally happening about it — and if you work in maritime, you need to know what's in the SHIPS for America Act.⚓

This week, lawmakers, union leaders, and shipyard executives crowded a Capitol Hill press conference to renew their push for the most ambitious maritime legislation in a generation: the SHIPS for America Act (S.1541 / H.R.3151). This legislation has direct implications for vessel operators, offshore...

04/28/2026

The Strait of Hormuz carries 20% of the world's oil. Iran has enough enriched uranium for 10+ bombs. Here's what every mariner — and every person who buys gas — needs to understand. 🚢⚛️

Iran has enriched uranium to 60%, a level with no credible civilian purpose, and perilously close to weapons-grade. Here’s what every mariner, client, and concerned citizen needs to know.   I spend much of my days thinking about admiralty law — cargo and vessel disputes, Jones Act claims, and t...

04/27/2026

The U.S. Navy is sweeping mines from the Strait of Hormuz — one of the most dangerous and painstaking operations in modern naval warfare. For the mariners who work those waters, this isn't background news. It's their job, their route, and their risk. New post on what the technology, the timeline, and the legal landscape mean for maritime workers. 🚢⚓

The U.S. Navy is sweeping Iran’s mines from the world’s most critical energy chokepoint. Here’s why the technology, the timeline, and the risks matter — and what workers in harm’s way need to know. If you work on the water, whether crewing a tanker through the Gulf of Oman, running cargo t...

04/27/2026

Iran has declared the Strait of Hormuz “completely open” for the duration of the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire — even as the U.S. Navy’s blockade of Iranian ports holds. Here’s what you need to know. The Strait of Hormuz — 21 miles wide at its tightest, a chokepoint that could be lately descr...

04/16/2026

Gas prices have been on the rise 📈 But what's really behind it all?

Learn more about the importance of the U.S. cargo and freight shipping industry and how it affects our economy in our latest blog post.

Every few years, high gas prices resurrect the same villains, but the math tells a different story. Rhythmic and reliable as the tides, here we go again. Gas prices rise, and right on schedule, someone proposes that the Jones Act is to blame and that a federal waiver would send prices tumbling. It h...