Maritime Injury Lawyer Blog

A man has been confirmed dead in a crane accident at the Houston Ship Channel. The fatality occurred when the worker was hit by the crane, and dragged under it.

According to news reports, the accident occurred at the Barbours Cut Container Terminal.  The man seems to have been working when he was caught under the crane which began to move. The victim's legs were severed.  He was rushed to the Bayshore Medical Center in Pasadena, but died from his injuries. The man was a member of the International Longshoremen's Association union.

23-year-old Chinese crewman aboard the Panamanian-flagged 958-foot Shagangfirst Power was taken ill, suffering from abdominal pain on November 21. Shagangfirst Power was 72 miles off Cold Bay at the time of their distress call to the Coast Guard. The crewman was medevaced by MH-65 Dolphin helicopter launched from the Coast Guard Cutter Sherman, to receive emergency medical treatment in Cold Bay.

No injuries were reported after a small fire broke out on a Celebration cruise ship. Florida-based Celebration Cruise Line reported a small explosion and fire on its Bahamas Celebration ship.

According to news reports, one of the generators on the ship blew a rod and piston. This led to an oil leak, which quickly caught fire. The flames were put out by the ship's fire suppression system. Celebration Cruise Line has stated that power to supply to the vessel was not cut off. No injuries were reported in the explosion or the fire, however, the ship's air conditioning apparently is no longer working.

Coast Guard answered a distress call on November 30 from the STEVE C, a fishing vessel holding around 22 tons of catch.The STEVE C had lost steering in bad weather about 21 miles northwest of Clatsop Spit, Oregon. Coast Guard reached the STEVE C by 52-foot motor lifeboat TRIUMPH early that afternoon and, through 14-18 foot swells, towed the disabled vessel across the Columbia River bar to Cape Disappointment shortly after midnight. There were no injuries.

Early morning on November 26, four coal barges broke loose from American Electric Power's M/V Buckeye State. One barge struck the pier as reported by Lt. Jason Coffey with the U.S. Coast Guard stationed in Huntington. The Coast Guard is still conducting its investigation.

The M/V Buckeye State is one of AEP's fleet of larger vessels.
No cargo was lost therefore no cleanup was required. According to Coffey as of Monday afternoon, Nov 28, the barge was still docked along the West Virginia side of the riverbank near the bridge.

Continue reading "Barge Incident Under Investigation" »

An American tourist died aboard a cruise liner docked in the port of Rio Tuesday after Brazilian authorities were told that 86 people on board had been sickened by stomach flu.

The woman died aboard the MS Veendam, a luxury vessel owned by the U.S. cruise company Holland America Line which sailed from Valparaiso, Chile and docked with 1,800 people on board, most of them foreigners, officials said.

Continue reading "U.S. tourist dies on cruise ship" »

Three sailors died and eight others are missing after a Turkish trade ship collided with a passenger ferry and sank in the Adriatic.

Sailing under a Maltese flag and loaded with aluminum, the 3,000-ton Reina 1, whose owner and crew were Turkish, sank immediately after the collision with the car ferry Ankara in international waters, said police spokeswoman Ornela Cako. The crash happened at around 2 a.m. (23:00 GMT) on Thursday some 20 miles (30 kilometers) from the Albanian port of Durres.

Continue reading "3 Sailors Dead, 8 Missing" »

The death of a cruise ship crew member, who fell into the Lyttelton Harbour in New Zealand and died, is being linked to a rusted rope that was so corroded it broke.

The Indonesian crewmember fell off a lifeboat.  He was greasing the wires of the lifeboat on the side of the MS Volendam along with a fellow worker when the wire broke, and the two men fell into the water.  Other crew members on the vessel threw a bucket into the water, rescuing one of the crewmembers.  However, the Indonesian crewmember died.  His body was recovered several hours later.  Neither crew member had been wearing a life jacket at the time.

Continue reading "Cruise Ship Crew Death" »

According to Indiana conservation officers, James Gamblin, 43, of Paducah, Ky. working on the Ganis R. Brewer Barge, Monday night, Nov 21, when the barge hit the wall of an Ohio River lock and he fell into the water and died.

News25ABC reports:
The impact caused the vessel's barges to separate and Gamblin fell into the river about midway between Evansville and Louisville, KY.
Gamblin was wearing a life jacket and his body was found in a debris pile near the locks.
An autopsy is planned to determine whether he died of injuries from the fall or drowned.

U.S. District Judge Barbier has ruled that BP must face claims under general maritime law, not under state law, in suits brought by Louisiana and Alabama due to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill brought on by the Deepwater Horizon disaster on April 20, 2010.

Barbier said that States can sue for negligence and product liability and are eligible for punitive damages, but dismissed claims brought under state environmental laws, including demands for civil penalties, finding they were preempted by federal law governing the Outer Continental Shelf.

Continue reading "BP Must Face State Oil Spill Claims" »

Celebrity Cruises has canceled all parasailing trips in the Caribbean following an accident in St. Thomas that left one passenger dead and another critically injured. Royal Caribbean, Celebrity's sister line, has followed suit.

A 60-year-old passenger sailing on Celebrity Eclipse, identified as Bernice Kraftcheck, 60, died as a result of her fall. Her daughter, Danielle Haese, 34, who was riding in tandem, is being treated at Hospital in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas. Celebrity Cruises spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez confirmed that the mother and daughter were participating in a ship-sponsored shore excursion.

Continue reading "Parasailing Cancelled after Death " »

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier ruled Tuesday, Nov 15, that BP can not use Transocean's insurance to pay costs related to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill of April 2010 - stating that the carriers owe no duty to pay claims or defense costs to BP.

BP filed claims with Transocean's carriers last year that sought access to $750 million. Lloyd's of London, along with other excess underwriters, and Ranger Insurance, Transocean's primary insurer, opposed the claims, contending the rig owner's contract with BP didn't provide such coverage.

"The court finds that BP, under the drilling contract, assumed responsibility for Macondo well oil release pollution liabilities. Because Transocean did not assume these liabilities, there is no additional insurance obligation in favor of BP for these liabilities."

Continue reading "Judge Rules BP Not Insured for Gulf Oil Spill" »

A shrimper died in a fall from a boat in the Gulf of Mexico this week. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the fifty-eight-year-old man was working as a deckhand on the twenty-six -foot long commercial fishing vessel when he fell into the water.

The seas were rough at the time of the accident. The owner of the boat was unable to rescue the unresponsive deckhand. There were only two people on the boat at the time of the incident. The owner of the vessel managed to retrieve the victim's body from the water, and took the boat to shore, where paramedics intervened.

The 143-foot Alaska Fishing vessel, REBECCA IRENE, lost engine power in the face of an impending severe storm. Twenty crewmen were evacuated from the vessel, 14 essential personnel remained on board. The vessel was taken under the escort of the Coast Guard Cutter SHERMAN. Hurricane force winds were approaching the Alaska coastline at the time of the rescue. Seas as high as forty feet were anticipated.

A United States Coast Guard Helicopter airlifted a 28-year old deckhand from the 150-foot crab fishing vessel WIZARD 60 miles north of Cold Bay. The crewman reportedly collapsed and was showing signs of dehydration and shock. The cause of the crewman's illness was not described in initial reports.