Container Ship Accidents
Are Overweight Shipping Containers Safe?
When cargo is loaded onto a container ship, someone on board is charged with figuring out where each container should be placed on the vessel. Cargo placed on container ships presents a particular problem because each container looks similar, so the person in charge of placement must make decisions based on the documented weight of…
Read MoreEl Faro Families Seek Closure Through Photos
According to First Coast News, family members of El Faro victims have been allowed to view photos and video taken during the search for the missing vessel. Additionally, it was announced last week that CBS News would air a report on 60 Minutes, going behind the scenes of the El Faro search, showing video from…
Read MoreWhen is the New Deadline for Filing El Faro Lawsuits?
According to the Florida Times-Union, a court ordered lawsuit deadline for family members of the El Faro disaster has been extended to February 19, 2016. Originally, the court ordered a deadline of December 21. However, it found that this date did not give parties enough time to prepare claims. The new deadline was requested by…
Read MoreEl Faro Families Fight Petition for Limitation of Liability
According to First Coast News, the legal battle between the operators of the El Faro, which sank during Hurricane Joaquin this fall, and family members of its victims is heating up. A court imposed deadline was set in Florida for today for family members to file lawsuits. Sadly, all 33 crewmembers who were aboard the…
Read MoreShould the El Faro Search Continue?
According to the Florida Times-Union, since the search for remains of the El Faro container ship was suspended in November, a crewmember’s wife has asked publicly for another one to begin. The newspaper reports that the Jacksonville woman, whose husband is presumed to have died along with the 33 crewmembers, is preoccupied with resuming a…
Read MoreEl Faro’s Sister Ship Involved in Maritime Incident
According to the Bangor Daily News, the sister ship of the El Faro, which sank near the Bahamas in October during Hurricane Joaquin, drifted for several hours recently after losing power during a voyage. The news outlet reported that the North Star, also owned by TOTE Maritime, lost power on November 24, as it sailed from…
Read MoreWere the Families of the 33 El Faro Crewmen Offered a Settlement?
Continuing our coverage of the El Faro disaster, TOTE Maritime has made a settlement offer to the families of the 33 El Faro crewmen lost at sea. According to First Coast News, the settlement would provide each of the families with lost wages plus $500,000 each in compensation. While TOTE Maritime is touting this as…
Read MoreHas the Search for El Faro Data Recorder Been Called Off?
According to National Public Radio, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has called off its search for the missing data recorder from the wreckage of the El Faro. The agency said that it used remote operated vehicles with the assistance of the Navy to attempt to find the recorder through the remaining wreckage that has…
Read MoreHas a Court Imposed an El Faro Lawsuit Deadline?
According to WTLV-TV, a judge in Jacksonville has ordered family members of victims of the El Faro disaster to file lawsuits by December 21 in order to pursue claims. U.S. District Judge Harvey Schlesinger signed the court order recently preventing family members from filing lawsuits outside of the venue and outside of the deadline against…
Read MoreWhat is Involved in the El Faro Recovery Process?
Over the past couple of weeks, we have been blogging heavily about the El Faro wreck, as it is the worst cargo shipping disaster involving an American-flagged vessel in more than three decades. With this in mind, the Seattle Times recently had a report about the details involved with the El Faro recovery effort that…
Read MoreSearch for El Faro Data Recorder, Bridge Continues
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and Navy continued its search last week for pieces of the El Faro cargo ship that went missing during Hurricane Joaquin. Investigators were able to find wreckage of the ship, as a salvage team managed to spot parts of the vessel on the ocean floor at a depth of…
Read MoreTHE FINDING OF THE EL FARO BY THE UNITED STATES NAVY & THE FILING OF THE PETITION OF LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
This past Friday, as the owners of the El Faro, Sea Star Lines, d/b/a, TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico and Tote Services, Inc., were filing a lawsuit in the Federal Court in Jacksonville, Florida, to limit and possibly, eliminate, their liability in the sinking of the EL FARO and the death of 33 crew members, the…
Read MoreNavy Tug Apache Continues El Faro Search
According to the Navy Times, the search for the missing cargo ship El Faro continued last week as the Navy sent its fleet ocean tug Apache to help investigators. The Apache left Norfolk, Virginia with undersea search systems onboard designed to find the El Faro, which is believed to have sunk. The vessel went missing…
Read MoreSinking of Cargo Ship El Faro: What Happens Next?
The maritime community has suffered a tremendous loss with the sinking of the El Faro. The families of the crew members are grieving and trying to grasp their devastating loss. Thirty-three crew members of all ages were lost in a horrific tragedy and everyone wants to know why did this happen. Questions range from: Should…
Read MoreWhy Did Cargo Ship El Faro Sink?
Update to Cargo Ship El Faro Sinking The search for the missing crew members on board the cargo ship El Faro has been suspended as of Wednesday, October 7. However, the National Transportation Safety Board and Coast Guard are still searching for the sunken cargo ship and its voyage data recorder, which could bring to…
Read MoreWhat Are My Legal Rights After a Barge Accident?
As of last week, search and recovery crews were trying to find a missing boater in Florence, Alabama following a barge accident. According to The TimesDaily, a barge struck a pontoon boat with eight people onboard on August 15, less than a mile from the Wilson Dam. An initial investigation determined that the pontoon might…
Read MoreThree Injured By Chemical Drums, Rough Seas
Sadly, three vessel crewmembers suffered chemical burns in a February incident while cleaning drums during poor weather off the coast of Oregon. According to Professional Mariner, the incident occurred when the workers of the Almasi were cleaning cargo holds aboard the Cyprus-flagged ship. The news outlet reported that two mariners suffered severe chemical burns, while…
Read MoreCould Drones Replace Human Captains on Cargo Ships?
Could Drones Replace Human Captains on Cargo Ships? 75 percent of accidents at sea are caused by human error. A European Union-funded research project called MUNIN is hoping to make the seas a whole lot safer by creating autonomous ships that can sail themselves from port to port using drones. Are Drones Safer than Humans?…
Read MoreAnother Chemical Spill, This Time Asphalt
Another Chemical Spill, This Time Asphalt Nearly 11,000 gallons of asphalt spilled into the Mystic River, near Everett, MA, earlier this month. The Coast Guard is monitoring the cleanup efforts. Apparently this spill was caused by a hose failure, but luckily there have been no known environmental impacts. The liquid asphalt has solidified around the…
Read MoreCrewmember Falls To Death While Ship Is At Anchor
A crewmember on a 19-ton cargo ship was fatally injured as a result of a fall. The crewman had been working in a steel basket attached, high above the deck, to the on-board electric provision crane. The crewmember was said to be painting at the time of his fall, and the crane was not suitable…
Read MoreIs the Container Ship You Work on Safe?
You have the right to work in an environment where your safety is a priority. For seamen, container ships> are often their work environment, and while the law requires that these vessels be kept safe for workers, employers do not always make this their priority, including: Failing to follow federal regulations Improperly maintaining or repairing…
Read MoreHouston Ship Channel Barge Accident Nearly Ends in Disaster
According to the Houston Chronicle, an accident between a barge and container ship narrowly avoided turning into an environmental disaster. The Houston Business Journal reported that the barge-container ship accident happened on March 14 in the Houston Ship Channel. The crash occurred just north of the Texas City Y, which is the nickname of the…
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