Continuing conflicts between the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) are causing dramatic changes to West Coast ports. Since early June, West Coast ports have experienced worker slowdowns and stoppages, resulting in an estimated $5.2 billion worth of trade stagnation in southern California alone. The Port of Seattle has…
Photo was taken by Bret Newbaker of the Anchorage Daily News. Commercial fishing has historically ranked as one of the most dangerous jobs in America. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) supports this claim even further after they released their investigative reports into the 2019 loss of the fishing vessel known as Scandies Rose. The…
At 1820 hours on Sunday, January 24, crab boat F/V SUNUP issued a distress call to the United States Coast Guard. According to the crew, the vessel developed propulsion issues, lost control, and allided with the south jetty entering Humboldt Bay, California. Coast Guard Station Humboldt Bay deployed a motor lifeboat and a helicopter to…
On December 10, 2020, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board issued a summary report detailing the most important maritime safety lessons learned from marine incidents during the year 2019. The report is known as the Safer Seas Digest. The Safer Seas Digest 2019 includes lessons learned from 30 different incidents in 2019. These included allisions,…
D/V CONCEPTION caught fire and sank off the coast of California in 2019. The incident killed 34 people. On December 1, 2020, the captain of the Vessel was indicted on federal manslaughter charges under The Seaman’s Manslaughter Statute, codified at 18 U.S.C. § 1115. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, the captain…
In the wake of the deadly fire aboard D/V CONCEPTION in September 2019, lawmakers have advanced a new fire safety bill for small passenger vessels, the Small Passenger Vessel Safety Act. The legislation was proposed by Senator Dianne Feinstein and Representatives Salud Carbajal and Julia Brownley. It was rolled into the National Defense Authorization Act…
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…
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…
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…
