Jones Act
Jones Act Lawyers React to WWF Shipping Accident Study
In conjunction with World Oceans Day on June 8, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) released finding from a study it commissioned into shipping accidents over the past 15 years. “Since 1999 there have been 293 shipping accidents in the South China Sea and east Indies, home of the Coral Triangle and 76 per cent of…
Read MoreVessel Owner Disputes Coast Guard’s Description of Tanker Accident
In January, the US Coast Guard reported that it conducted a medevac rescue of two crewmen who sustained injuries on the United Kingdom-flagged tank vessel, ENERGY CONQUEROR. According to the Coast Guard, the crewmen sustained their injuries when a cable split while the vessel was 130 miles southwest of San Diego. A 55-year-old crewman sustained…
Read MoreJones Act Attorneys Consider Fatigue’s Role in Abandoning of Fishing Vessel
Last week, we discussed the Bridge Navigational Watch Alarm System (BNWAS) automatic system that sounds an alarm if the watch officer of a vessel falls asleep, becomes incapacitated or if absent from the controls for any extended period. The “Consequences” section of the June 2013 issue of National Fisherman features another story demonstrating some of…
Read MoreUS Coast Guard Still Investigating Research Vessel Sinking in Gulf of Mexico
A public affairs office for the US Coast Guard’s Aviation Training Center Mobile told Professional Mariner that the January 17 sinking case involving the 170-foot SEAPROBE about 141 miles south of Pensacola, Florida, remains under investigation. “The cause … may never be fully known,” Daniel Knauss told Professional Mariner. “It sank in four to five…
Read MoreFerry Crew’s Failure to Test Propeller, Follow Procedures Led to 2011 Crash, TSB Says
On Friday, we discussed the June 2011 barge accident that caused substantial damage to the Queensborough Railway Bridge in British Columbia. While an investigative report from the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada said fatigue and inexperience were factors in that incident, Professional Mariner reported that the TSB determined that the bridge team’s lack of…
Read MoreTSB Report Blames Fatigue, Inexperience for 2011 Barge Accident
The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada said in an investigative report that fatigue and inexperience were factors in the EMPIRE 40 barge striking and causing substantial damage to the Queensborough Railway Bridge in British Columbia in June 2011. Professional Mariner reported that the TSB said the 202-foot barge was being pushed by the F.W.…
Read MoreJones Act Attorneys Encourage Boaters to Have Safe, Sober Memorial Day
We concluded our posts relating to the National Safe Boating Council’s 2013 National Safe Boating Week last week by discussing the role that alcohol plays in many fatal boating accidents. With today being Memorial Day, the federal holiday also marks an occasion when several people across the country take to the water for the first…
Read MoreNational Safe Boating Week Ends Today, But Drunk Boating Needs to be Avoided All Year
The Austin American-Statesman reported that 54-year-old John Russell Roy died in a boat accident at the Double D Ranch in Rosanky, Texas, on May 3. Roy was out on a lake on the ranch with David Fentress when they hit a concrete water intake. Fentress was transported to University Medical Center Brackenridge with serious injuries,…
Read MoreVessel Safety Checks Save Lives and Money
The Perryville News reported that a 51-year-old United Parcel Service delivery driver was killed in a “fluke accident” on Kentucky Lake on May 12. Timothy Clippard died when the motor of the fishing boat he was riding in dislodged, flew up into the boat and struck him. He and the boat operator had participated in…
Read MoreJones Act Lawyers Talk About National Safe Boating Week
KOKI-TV reported that two University of Arkansas students were killed in a boat collision on the Grand Lake o’ the Cherokees in Oklahoma on May 14. Preliminary reports from the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA) Police indicated that a 22-foot boat carrying multiple passengers collided with a 100-foot docked house boat. Rachel Swetnam and William…
Read MoreSix Hurt After Fishing Trawler Smashes Into Warship
This video from Canada’s CBC News discusses the American fishing trawler that smashed into the HMCS Winnipeg near Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Esquimalt on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. According to the Toronto Star, the British Columbia Ambulance Service confirmed six civilians were taken to hospital following the incident. Larry Edwards of the Esquimalt Public…
Read MoreJones Act Attorneys Look at Barge Explosions in Mobile, Alabama
This WALA-TV video shows footage of a fire that resulted from a series of explosions on a pair of oil barges on the Mobile River in Alabama on April 24. According to Reuters, the blasts forced officials to evacuate nearby shipyards and the CARNIVAL TRIUMPH cruise ship. As we mentioned last week, three workers were…
Read MoreBoston Maritime Attorneys Help Families Get Answers When Loved Ones Go Missing
Boston Maritime Attorneys Help Families Get Answers When Loved Ones Go Missing On Monday, we discussed the tragic accident that took the life of David C. McAuliffe, the lead captain for Sea Tow Services Inc.’s Atlantic City franchise. His body was found on an Ocean City beach last week and mourners gathered for two viewings…
Read MoreTugboat Sinks Four Months After Latti & Anderson LLP Obtains $2.25 Million Settlement for Injured Crewmember
The Baltimore Sun reported that a 102-foot tugboat, the KALEEN MCALLISTER, sank late at night on May 4. Mike Reagoso, the vice president of Mid-Atlantic operations for McAllister Towing, told the Sun that the tugboat struck a submerged object and began taking on water. A US Coast Guard spokesman said that efforts to pump water…
Read MoreSunken Boat Salvaged, But Captain Remains Missing
In this video from the Press of Atlantic City, the wife and father of 35-year-old David C. McAuliffe respond to the US Coast Guard’s April 24 decision to suspend its search for the missing tow boat captain. The comments of both Lynsey McAuliffe and David R. McAuliffe in this video reflect the extraordinary pain that…
Read MoreJones Act Lawyers Review ICS, IMO Concerns About Casualty Reports
The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) issued a press release on April 22 stating that the organization made a joint submission with the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to comment about “the apparent failure of some flag states to submit maritime casualty reports to IMO.” The press release stated…
Read MoreMaster Mariner Discusses Nine Common Towing Vessel Deficiencies
Captain Peter Squicciarini, a licensed master mariner and marine safety specialist whose resume includes working as a safety manager for an East Coast tug and barge company, recently contributed an article to the marine industry website WorkBoat.com containing a list of nine common towing vessel deficiencies. He said the Towing Vessel National Center of Expertise…
Read MoreHundreds of Barges Break Free in Multiple Incidents Before Three Hurt in Alabama Explosions
This video shows some of the seven barges that came to rest against the Marseilles Dam in central Illinois after they broke free from the DALE A. HELLER, a 128-foot towing vessel, on April 18. According to a press release from the US Coast Guard, the vessel was on the Illinois River approaching the Marseilles…
Read MoreTugboat Captain Dies From Burn Injuries in Louisiana Explosion
Last month, we discussed the fire and explosion near Bayou Perot about 30 miles south of New Orleans after the 47-foot tugboat SHANON E. SETTOON struck a liquefied natural gas pipeline. This video from the Taiwanese graphics service Next Media Animation shows how the fire broke out in the Louisiana waterway, but the Times-Picayune reported…
Read MoreJones Act Attorneys Help Amputation Victims
The US Coast Guard said in a news release that it had to medically evacuate a 23-year-old fisherman on April 10 after he severed his middle finger while working with fishing gear on board the 52-foot F/V SEA SMOKE. The vessel was about 39 miles southeast of Montauk Point when the injury occurred, and a…
Read MoreNTSB Issues Recommendations Following Four Deaths in 2011 TRINITY II Accident
This Latin America News video shows footage from the rescue of seven individuals who had to abandon the 78 ½-foot long liftboat TRINITY II about 15 miles offshore in the Bay of Campeche, Gulf of Mexico, on September 8, 2011. According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), four US crewmembers and six non-US contractors…
Read MoreFamilies Suffer When Loved Ones Disappear on the Water
The CARNIVAL TRIUMPH was involved in yet another maritime accident on April 3 when high winds caused the cruise ship and several other barges to break loose from their moorings and collide with an adjacent pier, causing it to collapse. The story has not garnered the national attention that the TRIUMPH received when more than…
Read MoreCoast Guard Medevacs Tanker Worker with Injured Back Following 20-Foot Fall
Coast Guard Medevacs Tanker Worker with Injured Back Following 20-Foot Fall The US Coast Guard said in a press release that it medevaced a 28-year-old man who sustained a back injury after falling 20 feet while working aboard a tanker approximately 55 miles southeast of Port Arthur, Texas, on March 30. According to the Coast…
Read MoreJones Act Lawyers Discuss Three Tugboat Accidents in Three Days
Last week, we discussed the four crewmembers who sustained injuries including a captain who suffered second- to third-degree burn injuries in a March 12 tugboat accident near New Orleans. Just a little over a week after that pipeline and oil barge explosion, there were multiple tugboat accidents separated by a matter of days. On March…
Read MoreTwo Workers Killed, One Critically Injured in Port Everglades Scissor Lift Accident
Two workers were killed and a third was rushed to Broward Health Medical Center in critical condition after a four-story-high scissor lift fell onto its side on a concrete dock at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on March 15. The Miami Herald reported that three Broward County Public Works employees were on the platform…
Read MoreFour Injured, One Seriously, in Pipeline and Oil Barge Explosion
This video shows a fire burning near Bayou Perot about 30 miles south of New Orleans after the 47-foot tugboat SHANON E. SETTOON struck a liquefied natural gas pipeline on March 12. Four crewmembers sustained injuries, including the captain who sustained second- to third-degree burn injuries. While there were reports of oil in the shallow…
Read MoreVideo Shows Harrowing Rescue of Man with Serious Chest Injuries on HORIZON TRADER
The first 20 seconds of this video showing the 780-foot cargo ship HORIZON TRADER rocking in the water should give everybody a better idea of the difficulty and risk involved in helicopter medical evacuations from these types of vessels. The US Coast Guard medevaced a 47-year-old man from the HORIZON TRADER approximately 200 miles east…
Read MoreUSCG Investigation Shows ‘Human Error’ Caused Tugboat Sinking
This WMTW-TV video shows the 55-foot BENJAMIN BAILEY tugboat capsizing and sinking in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on October 21, 2012. Two crewmembers were able to escape from the vessel after it became pinned against a barge at the Memorial Bridge construction site. On February 28, Foster’s Daily Democrat reported that an analysis by the US…
Read MoreTankers Collide in Texas Days After Tugs Collide in Alaska
Nobody was injured but many eyes may have been opened after there were two ship collisions in less than a week. According to KTUU-TV, two of the three tugboats that were supposed to tow the damaged Shell drilling rig Kulluk collided on February 15. US Coast Guard spokesperson Petty Officer 1st Class David Mosley told…
Read MoreMan Dies After Being Pinned Between Barge and Morgan Bridge
Michael McQuade was killed after he became pinned between a barge and the wall of the Morgan Bridge in Sayreville, New Jersey, on February 17. Coast Guard spokesperson Jetta Disco told the Courier News that the incident involved a barge and a tugboat, although the 34-year-old McQuade was not a crewmember of either of the…
Read MoreFive Crewmembers Killed in Lifeboat Drill Accident on THOMSON MAJESTY
On Monday, we discussed the passengers who were stranded at sea following a fire in the engine room of the Carnival Triumph. It is important to remember that maritime law also protects the crew of cruise ships as well, and this BBC News video discusses five crewmembers who were killed on February 10 during a…
Read MoreCoast Guard Rescues Injured Worker, Crew on Sinking Fishing Vessel
Coast Guard Rescues Injured Worker, Crew on Sinking Fishing Vessel On Wednesday, we discussed the US Coast Guard report in which the agency accepted responsibility for a fatal 2009 accident. However, we noted that the Coast Guard’s uncharacteristic negligence in that incident contrasted to the many lives that the agency saves on a daily basis.…
Read MoreFour Crewmembers Taken to Hospitals with Burn Injuries
The StarNews reported that four crewmembers aboard THE STAR FRASER had to be taken to a hospital with chemical burns after the 614-foot freighter docked the state port in Wilmington, North Carolina. The individuals suffered the burns during a chemical leak aboard the ship while it was at sea. THE STAR FRASER was en route…
Read MoreBarge Strikes Bridge in ‘One of the Two Most Difficult Turns in the Mississippi River’
Barge Strikes Bridge in ‘One of the Two Most Difficult Turns in the Mississippi River’ The Associated Press reported that a tug was pushing two barges in a dangerous stretch of the Mississippi River on January 27 when one of the barges carrying 80,000 gallons of oil struck a railroad bridge and began leaking. The…
Read MoreCoast Guard Airlifts Two Workers Injured on UK Tanker
Coast Guard Airlifts Two Workers Injured on UK Tanker The US Coast Guard issued a news release that stated its San Diego station conducted a medevac of two injured crewmembers from the ENERGY CONQUEROR, a United Kingdom-flagged tanker, on January 18, 2013. The two crewmembers, both Russian citizens, were injured when a cable split. According…
Read MoreTugboat Crew Still Stranded, Experienced Inspector Calls Unseaworthy Vessel ‘Worst By Far’
This December 2012 video from Canada’s Global News discusses the eight crewmembers of a Bolivian-flagged, American-owned tugboat who were stranded in the Novia Scotia city of Halifax after rough weather conditions. The Globe and Mail reported that Transport Canada inspectors refused to let the 69-year-old CRAIG TRANS leave Halifax because of “poor living conditions and…
Read MoreTwo Bridges Struck by Tanker, Tow Boat on Same Day
Vessels struck bridges in two separate incidents on January 7, 2013. This video shows some of the damage after an empty oil tanker sideswiped a tower of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in California. The US Coast Guard warned the 752-foot OVERSEAS REYMAR that it was off course before the ship scraped a 30-to-40-foot section of…
Read MoreFeds Allege Employee Who Attacked Captain Put Towboat, Crew at Risk
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that federal prosecutors said a towboat worker’s attack on his captain on the MIRANDA PAIGE put the towboat traveling up the Mississippi River and its crew at risk. An affidavit filed by Coast Guard Investigative Service Special Agent Roger St. Germaine Jr. said that 30-year-old David Donnell Roberts pulled the…
Read MoreJones Act Attorneys Look at Drilling Ship Running Aground in Alaska
This video is a montage of the United States Coast Guard (USCG) rescue of crewmembers aboard THE KULLUK, a conical, Arctic-class drill ship weighing nearly 28,000 gross tons. Reuters reported that the ship owned by Shell Oil Company broke away from its tow lines on New Year’s Eve and ran aground just off Kodiak Island…
Read More‘Challenging Rescue’ of Seaman Injured on Bulk Freighter
‘Challenging Rescue’ of Seaman Injured on Bulk Freighter The Canadian daily newspaper The Province reported that a seaman injured on a ship off the coast of British Columbia was rescued December 13, 2012, in a “challenging” operation by a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) helicopter rescue team. The crewmember was performing maintenance below deck on…
Read More‘Virtually Zero’ Chance Six Missing Sailors Alive After Cargo, Container Ships Collide
‘Virtually Zero’ Chance Six Missing Sailors Alive After Cargo, Container Ships Collide This BBC video discusses how Dutch rescue teams said it was unlikely that six missing sailors would be found alive after a cargo ship collided with a container ship in the North Sea on December 5, 2012. While 13 members of the 24-man…
Read MoreCoast Guard Suspends Search for Two Fishermen Presumed Lost at Sea
Coast Guard Suspends Search for Two Fishermen Presumed Lost at Sea This video from WCVB-TV discusses a rescue capsule discovered in a Saugus marsh. The Gloucester Times reported that the pod, marked Foxy Lady II on the side, was found around the same time that the US Coast Guard (USCG) called off the night’s search…
Read More‘How Long Will It Take to Settle My Jones Act Case?’
‘How Long Will It Take to Settle My Jones Act Case?’ Many clients have an understandable concern about how long it will take to settle their Jones Act cases. Because a variety of maritime injuries and circumstances are involved in a Jones Act case, resolution times vary. Some Jones Act cases can be settled in…
Read MoreJones Act Lawyers Explain How Federal Law for Seamen Differs from Workers Compensation
If seamen or maritime workers sustain injuries because of slip and falls, line breaks or other accidents resulting from employer’s negligence while working on a vessel, the Jones Act and general maritime law allows these individuals to pursue compensation that can be more substantial than workers’ compensation. The Jones Act and general maritime law not…
Read MoreMaritime Amputation Victim? Jones Act Attorneys Have Recovered Millions
Suffering an injury on the water which requires the amputation of any part of your body is devastating. For the injured party, not only does the person have to deal with the physical pain but with the psychological aspect of losing a part of your body which can be overwhelming. It is very important with…
Read MoreBarge Accident Kills Worker on Mississippi River
Barge Accident Kills Worker on Mississippi River This WISN-TV video reports on a crane accident on a barge in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, that killed 35-year-old Joseph Bidler in July 2012. The Oshkosh Northwestern reported that it was the second crane fatality to occur during US Highway 41 construction this year, and Lunda Construction was at risk of…
Read MoreCarolyn Latti, David Anderson Among 2012 Top Maritime Law Attorneys in Professional Mariner Magazine
The Boston maritime trial lawyers at Latti & Anderson LLP were named in the 2012 Top Maritime Law Attorneys for the December/January double issue of Professional Mariner magazine. The article noted that Carolyn Latti and David Anderson “work on cases across the country and all over the world[,] and have successfully taken on huge multinational…
Read MoreBoston Ferry Accident One of Many Reasons for Concern
Boston Ferry Accident One of Many Reasons for Concern Three stories about ferry accidents within a week’s time call attention to the dangers that not only passengers face on these ships, but crewmembers as well. On November 2, 2012, the Bellingham Herald reported that an Alaska Marine Highway ferry ramp operator was injured after a…
Read MoreFishing Workers Have Highest Rate of Fatal Injury, BLS Says
In a news release issued on October 25, 2012, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said that private industry employers reported nearly 3 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses last year. This resulted in an incidence rate of 3.5 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers in 2011, and marked the first time in a…
Read MoreFisherman Critically Injured Aboard Vessel
A Massachusetts fisherman was rushed to the hospital after he fell 14 feet from a ladder to a deck on his boat in September, according to the Gloucester Times. The fisherman was working on the VENTURE fishing vessel at the time of the accident and was rushed by paramedics to the Lahey Clinic in Burlington.…
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