Jones Act Lawyers Discuss Three Tugboat Accidents in Three Days

April 3, 2013

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 22, the 59-foot MARTHA T grounded outside Horn Island Pass, Mississippi. The Mississippi Press reported that the MARTHA T was pushing two empty red-flag barges when it began taking on water near the west side of Petit Bois Island. The day before that tug grounded, the Boston Globe reported that the 93-foot tugboat JUSTICE had to be towed to the Massachusetts Maritime Academy after running aground near Stony Point Dike in Wareham.

While no injuries were reported in either of those tugboat incidents, three crewmembers sustained injuries on March 20 when a fire broke out in the engine room of the 4,400-horsepower Z-FIVE tugboat. The vessel was docked along the shoreline in Alameda, California, and the Oakland Tribune reported that the fire was likely sparked during a mechanical malfunction and was not considered suspicious.

Seamen who sustain injuries while working on tugboats and barges may be entitled to compensation under the Jones Act in addition to the maintenance and cure they are entitled to under general maritime law. Latti & Anderson represents maritime workers who have sustained injuries on tugboats and barges as well as the families of seamen who were killed on these vessels. We have obtained numerous multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements for these clients, including a $3.4 million verdict for an individual who became a T6 paraplegic after a fall while working on a tugboat in Tampa, Florida.

Additional information about tug and barge accidents is available on our website. If you sustained an injury or your loved one was killed while working on a tug or barge, contact our firm right now at (800) 392-6072 to schedule a free consultation or fill out the form on this page to have our Jones Act lawyers review your case.

Latti & Anderson LLP – Jones Act attorneys