Maritime Industry & Asbestos Exposure

Longshoremen and merchant mariners worked in ship holds filled with asbestos dust. Cargo handling, engine room repairs. The exposure was constant.

200,000+ workers affected Peak exposure: 1940-1980

Asbestos Exposure Sources

Workers in the maritime industry encountered asbestos through:

  • Cargo containing asbestos
  • Ship engine rooms
  • Boiler rooms
  • Pipe insulation

Common Asbestos Products

Products commonly used in this industry that contained asbestos:

Asbestos cargoShip insulation materials

Affected Occupations

Workers in these job roles within the maritime industry faced the highest exposure:

Longshoremen Merchant marines

Health Risks

Workers exposed to asbestos in the maritime industry face four main disease risks. Mesothelioma is the signature disease, an aggressive cancer of the lung, abdominal, or heart lining. Asbestos-related lung cancer risk climbs with exposure and multiplies sharply when combined with a smoking history. Asbestosis is a progressive scarring of lung tissue that makes breathing harder over time. Pleural disease shows up as thickening or calcification of the lung lining, often on chest imaging decades before symptoms appear.

Symptoms typically appear 20 to 50 years after initial exposure, meaning workers from the peak exposure era are being diagnosed today.

Legal Options for Maritime Workers

Workers in the maritime industry have filed mesothelioma lawsuits and compensation claims against asbestos product manufacturers. Trust fund claims and settlements have provided financial support to thousands of affected workers and families.

Compensation typically comes from a combination of four sources. Asbestos trust funds hold money set aside by bankrupt manufacturers to pay qualified claimants. Personal injury lawsuits target companies still in business whose products contributed to the exposure. Workers' compensation is available in some states for occupational exposure and can run on top of tort recovery. VA benefits apply to veterans whose exposure occurred during military service, paid alongside any civil claim.

Medical Disclaimer

The information on this page is intended for educational purposes only and should not be considered medical or legal advice. Consult with healthcare providers for medical questions and qualified attorneys for legal options.

Full disclaimer·Find a lawyer

Industry Q&A

Frequently Asked Questions

How likely is mesothelioma after asbestos exposure?

Risk estimates vary widely, but researchers consistently report that heavy, long-term occupational asbestos exposure leads to mesothelioma in about 8% to 13% of people with that level of exposure. Population-level data from Britain suggest that more typical low-level environmental exposure carries an average lifetime mesothelioma risk of about 1 in 10,000, although risk can be an order of magnitude higher in heavily contaminated settings. Studies of family members exposed through workers’ clothing show roughly 2 to 10 times higher mesothelioma risk than unexposed people, and wives of asbestos workers in one cohort had more than 25 times the expected incidence. Scientific and regulatory bodies describe asbestos as having no safe exposure threshold, and even brief but intense exposure over days to months has been documented in some mesothelioma cases. Individual risk is further shaped by factors such as cumulative dose, age at exposure, occupation, and genetic susceptibility, including BAP1 mutations.

How did Steve McQueen get mesothelioma?

Steve McQueen was exposed to asbestos through multiple occupational and military sources over several decades. His primary exposure occurred during his service in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1947 to 1950, when he worked aboard naval ships and in shipyards, including removing asbestos lagging from pipes at Camp Lejeune. After his military service, he encountered additional asbestos exposure on movie soundstages where insulation contained the mineral, while wearing flame-resistant racing suits made with asbestos, and while working on race car and motorcycle brakes. McQueen did not develop symptoms until 1978, nearly 30 years after his initial military exposure, reflecting the typical latency period of 20 to 50 years between asbestos exposure and mesothelioma diagnosis. He was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma in December 1979 and died in November 1980 at age 50.

How much is mesothelioma compensation in the Navy?

Mesothelioma compensation linked to U.S. Navy service often combines VA benefits, legal settlements or verdicts, and asbestos trust fund payouts. Many sources report that Navy-related mesothelioma settlements and verdicts commonly fall in a broad range of about $1 million to $11.4 million, with many individual case results between $1 million and $4 million and a few over $40 million. Average total recoveries across lawsuits and trust funds are often cited around $1 million to $1.4 million. Separately, people with mesothelioma who are Navy veterans usually receive a 100% VA disability rating, which current sources place at roughly $3,900 to $4,158.17 or more per month, tax free. Actual compensation varies widely by factors such as disease stage, exposure history, jurisdiction, and whether cases resolve through settlements, trial verdicts, or trust fund claims.

What famous person died from mesothelioma?

Steve McQueen, a prominent actor known for films like *The Great Escape* and *The Magnificent Seven*, died from pleural mesothelioma in 1980 at age 50. His exposure is linked to U.S. Marine service, shipyard work, and possible movie set insulation. Other celebrities who died from mesothelioma include musician Warren Zevon (2003), actor Ed Lauter (2013), and NFL player Merlin Olsen. Paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould survived peritoneal mesothelioma for 20 years before dying from unrelated lung cancer in 2002.