What Did We Learn from “Deepwater Horizon?”

“Deepwater Horizon” is a movie that hit the screens last month and is a depiction of the oil rig that exploded, sank and killed 11 workers on April 20, 2010. The tragedy was also regarded as one of the worst environmental disasters to date. On that day, the cement plug in the Macondo well failed…

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Are Oil Rig Companies Failing to Provide Proper Training to Workers?

On March 11th, federal safety officials launched an investigation into the death of an oil rig worker in the Gulf of Mexico after the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement responded to a fatal injury report. According to NOLA.com, the platform is located about 150 miles off shore, south of New Orleans and is owned…

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Safety Improvements All Oil Barge Operators Should Make

Due to the fact more oil is produced and shipped out of the U.S. in these past few years, a recent concern was brought forth by the Congressional Research Service last month. The sudden change in how the nation ships oil has left little time to analyze the safety of oil barges and tankers. Currently,…

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Starbound Families Settle Civil Suit

Starbound Families Settle Civil Lawsuit With Owner Reach Agreement For Undisclosed Amount By Dexter Van Zile National Fisherman December 2002 Related Articles: September 28, 2002 October 12, 2001 August 25, 2001 August 21, 2001 (The Boston Globe) August 21, 2001 (Boston Herald) August 21, 2001 (Portland Press Herald) August 18, 2001 August 7, 2001 Fishermen…

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Top Jury Verdicts of 2001 Injury Aboard Ship

The Top Jury Verdicts of 2001, #6: Injury Aboard Ship Leads To Admiralty Verdict Case Turned On Critical Internal Company E-Mail By Marissa Yaremich Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly January 14, 2002 Related Articles: May 28, 2001 May 19, 2001 Life at sea is considered one of the most physically grueling and dangerous occupations on earth. The…

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Final Settlement Reached in Tanker’s Sinking of Boat

Final Settlement Reached In Tanker’s Sinking Of Boat By Jules Crittenden Boston Herald Related Articles: December 2002 October 12, 2001 August 25, 2001 August 21, 2001 (The Boston Globe) August 21, 2001 (Boston Herald) August 21, 2001 (Portland Press Herald) August 18, 2001 August 7, 2001 The final part of a complex $7.5 million settlement…

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Legal Stage Set for Portland Judge to Decide Fault in Starbound

Legal Stage Is Set For Portland Judge To Decide Fault In Starbound Sinking The Tanker Virgo’s Owners File Documents Blaming The Fishing Boat For A Collision That Killed Three Of Its Crew By John Richardson Portland Press Herald Related Articles: December 2002 September 28, 2002 August 25, 2001 August 21, 2001 (The Boston Globe) August…

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Tanker Firm Posts $13 Million for Lawsuits

By Jules Crittenden Boston Herald Related Articles: December 2002 September 28, 2002 October 12, 2001 August 21, 2001 (The Boston Globe) August 21, 2001 (Boston Herald) August 21, 2001 (Portland Press Herald) August 18, 2001 August 7, 2001 Suspected killer tanker Virgo will be free to leave Canada Monday after posting a $13 million bond…

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Federal Suit Filed Against Suspect Tanker’s Owner Operator

Starbound Widow’s US Case Follows Action In Canada By Brian MacQuarrie The Boston Globe The widow of a Maine fisherman who died in the Aug. 5 sinking of the trawler Starbound filed suit yesterday in US District Court in Boston against the owner and operator of the Russian tanker that allegedly collided with the vessel.…

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Family of Starbound Victim Files Second Lawsuit

Family Of Starbound Victim Files Second Lawsuit, This One In U.S. With the ship suspected in the sinking berthed in Canada, the Sanfilippos argue the case belongs in a New England court. By Bart Jansen Portland Press Herald WASHINGTON – Relatives of a Maine fisherman killed in the sinking of the Starbound filed a second…

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Fisherman’s Widow Files $6 Million Suit

Fisherman‘s Widow Files $6M Suit By Boston Herald Staff Boston Herald The widow of a Maine fisherman killed when the Russian tanker Virgo allegedly struck his boat off Cape Ann sued the ship’s owner for $6 million in federal court in Boston yesterday. Aimee L. Sanfilippo, whose husband James Sanfilippo died Aug. 5 along with…

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Federal Suit Filed Against Suspect Tanker Owners

Federal Suit Filed Against Suspect Tanker’s Owner, Operator Starbound Widow’s US Case Follows Action In Canada By Brian MacQuarrie The Boston Globe The widow of a Maine fisherman who died in the Aug. 5 sinking of the trawler Starbound filed suit yesterday in US District Court in Boston against the owner and operator of the…

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Maine Fisherman’s Widow Files Suit Against Tanker

Maine Fisherman’s Widow Files Suit Against Tanker By Dave Wedge Boston Herald The widow of one of three New England fishermen drowned when a Russian vessel allegedly plowed into and sank their trawler lodged a $6 million wrongful death lawsuit in a Canadian court yesterday. Aimee Lynne Sanfilippo, widow of James Sanfilippo, filed suit in…

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Hit and Run Ship Sought

The Coast Guard Searches For The Large Ship That Collided With A Maine Fishing Boat, Sinking It And Apparently Killing Three Men. By David Hench Portland Press Herald CHRONOLOGY Just before 1 a.m. Sunday, James Sanfilippo, a crewman aboard the fishing boat Starbound, reportedly notices a large ship heading toward the much smaller vessel. He…

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Mariner Awarded $2.8 Million in Suit

Mariner Awarded $2.8 Million In Suit By John Doherty The Standard-Times May 19, 2001 WAREHAM – A Wareham mariner has won a $2.8 million award from an Exxon subsidiary after a federal jury ruled yesterday the company was negligent in an accident that broke the sailor’s leg. Carlos Castro had worked 24 years for Seariver…

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Seaman’s Minor Injury Results in Big Time Award

Compensation Made For ‘Anguish’ Of Lost Career By Eric T. Berkman Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly February 16, 1998 Loss of limb. Permanent paralysis. Brain damage. Death. Those are the images generally conjured up by news of a multi-million-dollar verdict. But mental anguish? That may not be the kind of thing typically associated with a huge recovery.…

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Jury Awards Maine Tanker Captain $2 Million

Jury Awards Maine Tanker Captain $2M By Patricia Nealon The Boston Globe February 22, 1997 A former oil tanker captain from Maine has won a $2 million verdict against the owner of a tanker for a shoulder injury that will prevent him from ever captaining a ship again. Eric Wilson, 36, of Falmouth, Maine, was…

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Captain’s Forgery After Sea Tragedy Ends in Payment

Captain’s Forgery After Sea Tragedy Ends in Payment Captain’s Forgery After Sea Tragedy Ends In Payment By Tim Sullivan Gloucester Daily Times November 29, 1977 A tiny, easily-overlooked alteration in a ship’s log has led to a court award of $2.75 million, the largest sum ever paid for injuries and damages in a marine law…

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Tanker Firm Sued for $60 Million

By William F. Doherty The Boston Globe December 21, 1976 A class action suit was filed by a group of Cape Cod fishermen in US District Court in Boston Saturday seeking $60 million in damages for alleged permanent damage to fishing areas caused by oil leaking from the tanker Argo Merchant grounded off Nantucket. The…

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