Learn about recent news in the maritime law industry by reading the following blog articles from BoatLaw, LLP. Attorney Nick Neidzwski and Doug Williams are experienced in practicing admiralty and maritime law, including representation for Jones Act cases and for those injured at sea. BoatLaw serves the entire Pacific Coast including Alaska, Washington, Oregon and California.
On Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020, the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Juneau Command Center received a mayday call from F/V ELISE MARIE at 1900 hours local time. The vessel was taking on water and sinking near Icy Bay (approximately 160 nautical miles southeast of Valdez). The Coast Guard mobilized a C-130 Hercules airplane, an MH-60 helicopter,…
During the Oct. 20, 2020 meeting of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, the NTSB determined the probable cause of the Sept., 2019 fire casualty aboard D/V CONCEPTION was the failure of Truth Aquatics, Inc., the owner and operator of the vessel, to provide effective oversight of the boat and crew operations. Specifically, they failed…
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board will meet at 1 p.m. (EDT) on October 20, 2020, concerning the fire aboard D/V CONCEPTION off of Santa Cruz, California in 2019. The fire killed 34 people. The Board, which consists of five members will vote on the probable cause, make recommendations, and discuss changes to their draft…
On September 29, 2020, the National Transportation Safety Board released a Preliminary Report following investigation of the August 21, 2020 fire around dredge WAYMON L. BOYD. The vessel was a 152-foot-long cutter-head suction dredge that reportedly struck a submerged 16-inch liquid propane pipeline during early morning dredging operations in Corpus Christi, Texas. A gas plume…
During the morning hours of September 16, 2020, a 40-year-old fisherman aboard F/V ATLANTICO sustained a back injury near the Port of Cold Bay in Alaska. The emergency medical evacuation was recommended. The United States Coast Guard, District 17 command center responded by launching a Jayhawk helicopter from Air Station Kodiak. The helicopter crew reached…
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has publicly released voluminous documentary evidence relating to the fire aboard D/V CONCEPTION on September 2, 2019, which resulted in the deaths of 34 people. The only survivors of the incident near Santa Cruz Island in California were five crewmembers who dove into the water for safety. Everyone else…
Two workers were injured on Sunday afternoon when part of Seattle’s Pier 58 collapsed during ongoing construction. Seven people were removing a concrete section of the Pier when the collapse occurred. Two men fell into the water during the collapse. The 50-year-old Pier was originally earmarked for renovation in 2022 as part of the Seattle…
Sandy Hook Pilot Captain Timothy M. Murray was killed after falling from a pilot ladder while boarding a tanker ship near the Port of New York/New Jersey. The incident occurred at around 10:30pm on Wednesday August 5, 2020. This incident comes shortly after another Sandy Hook pilot, Dennis R. Sherwood, fell and subsequently passed away…
A distressed commercial fisherman was rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard in the early hours of Tuesday, June 28, 2020, near the entrance of the Columbia River. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Columbia River received a VHF-FM radio mayday call from a 37 -foot commercial fishing vessel located near Cape Disappointment. An urgent marine information…
On Friday, May 29th, in the port of Bellingham, Washington, one crew member of a 272-foot trawler known as The American Dynasty was admitted to the hospital for treatment of the coronavirus (COVID-19). Consequently, the company tested the rest of the crew under their COVID-19 response plan, only to find an additional 85 crew members…