The Virginia Supreme Court has reinstated a $2 million award it struck down earlier this year in an asbestos lawsuit against John Crane, Inc. In March, the court vacated awards totaling more than $3 million in a lawsuit filed by Robert Hardick, who alleged exposure to asbestos while a Navy seaman, before he passed away….
This past weekend Coast Guard Sector Anchorage received a mayday call from crewmembers of the 110′ commercial fishing vessel, the F/V MOONLIGHT MAID. The fishing vessel encountered high winds and 13′ seas before when it began taking on water. At the time, the fishing vessel was more than 30 miles south of Resurrection Bay. A…
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Coast Guard says a member of a fishing vessel crew survived after falling overboard without a lifejacket in the frigid waters of Prince William Sound. Coast Guard spokesman David Mosley says the Seward-based PHOENIX reported the crew member missing at 8:51 p.m. Saturday, August 18, 2012, a couple minutes after he…
Chief Mate William Skye brought suit in Florida against Maersk Lines Limited for excessive dangerous working conditions that inflicted heart damage and subsequently forced him into early retirement. The claim was made that Maersk working conditions violated the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, also known as the STCW. According…
Admiralty law is steeped in tradition. Many of its principles derive from sources as ancient as the maritime code of the Isle of Rhodes. But in the past two decades, the law of maritime personal injury has been in flux. The pivot point is the U.S. Supreme Court case of Miles v. Apex Marine Corp.,…
Yet another cruise line incident in this young year. Recently, an Azamara Club Cruises ship named the Azamara Quest was reportedly drifting listlessly in the waters south of the Phillipines, after fire broke out disabling its engines. The Philippine coast guard indicated that five crew members received injuries from smoke inhalation, with one more seriously…
Debris from the 9.0 earthquake and resulting tsunami that occurred near Sendai, Japan more than one year ago is finally making its way to the Pacific Northwest. The first piece of debris is expected to land on the West Coast within the next two months. Officials anticipate a Japanese fishing boat floating approximately 120 nautical…
On the eve of trial, British Petroleum (BP) reached a proposed settlement with the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Plaintiff’s Steering Committee. The estimated $7.8 billion settlement is intended to resolve most of the economic and medical claims that resulted from the 2010 oil spill disaster. The settlement will be paid out of the $20 billion trust fund…
In Bellingham, efforts have begun to recover the bodies of two people who are believed to have died in a massive fire that struck Squalicum Harbor late last week. Husband and wife Jim Langei, 43, and Sterling Taylor, 33, were living on their boat and have been missing since it was burned in an early-morning…
An appellate court recently confirmed a legal rule prohibiting vessel owners from limiting their liability by invoking federal court jurisdiction. Passengers who are injured en route to a vessel are entitled to fair compensation for their injuries, even if the incident did not occur “on or over navigable waters.” MLC Fishing, Inc. (MLC) owns the…
There was no time that Nick was ever unavailable for me. That’s what I call a friend. That is somebody who cares.
Past Client of BoatLaw Commercial Fisherman, Southeast Alaska
