Maritime Injury Lawyer Blog

The China State Oceanic Administration is blaming Conoco Phillips for an offshore leak on the country's biggest offshore oilfield.

The Platform B leak on the Penglai 19-3 oilfield began on 4 June, a the leak from Platform C on the same oilfield began on 17 June. According to the State Oceanic Administration's environmental protection unit, the resulting leak polluted more than 840 km² of ocean.  Much of the leak has already been cleaned up, and according to sources, there is no sheen of oil covering the surface of the sea.  However, a little oil can be seen near the two platforms.

According to the China State Oceanic Administration, Conoco Phillips China is responsible for the leak and the resultant damage. The company may be fined up to $30,946, however Phillips is likely to pay much more in economic and ecological damages.

The 36-foot fishing vessel ICE MAIDEN capsized Sunday, July 3 in the Prince William Sound off Rocky Point, Alaska. Reports say the vessel capsized while hauling in a net full of salmon. Good Samaritan fishing vessels NEW VENTURE and AQUANATOR provided assistance and transported the crew to nearby Cordova. ICE MAIDEN then sank and came to rest on the seafloor in 35 to 45 feet of water, said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Jason Boyle.

Continue reading "Fishing Vessel Sunk" »

Coast Guard Sector Anchorage was notified that a crewman aboard the 32-foot fishing vessel MISS MARIA was suffering from a severely broken forearm, Friday, July 1.

The Coast Guard helicopter crew hoisted the 56-year-old fisherman and transferred him to awaiting emergency medical services in Kodiak. The fisherman suffered a double compound fracture to his right forearm. Published reports do not indicate the cause of his injury. He was taken to Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center in stable condition.

Coast Guard District Seventeen received notification Thursday, July 7, that Anthony Imas, 50, was injured and required medical assistance. Imas was reportedly suffering from severe back pain after falling aboard the 50-foot fishing vessel HEIDI LINEA.

The Coast Guard helicopter rescue crew hoisted Imas off the vessel. Reports indicate that Imas was in stable condition. Imas was taken to Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center for further care.

The Coast Guard medevaced Alvin Floyd and John Hodges from a commercial fishing vessel on the south end of St. Catherines Island on Wednesday, June 22, following an explosion onboard. Operational watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Charleston received reports of the explosion and deployed two rescue helicopter crews. A good Samaritan rescued the fishermen from the water and waited until the rescue crews arrived. The Coast Guard crews transported the fishermen to Savannah Memorial Hospital.

Coast Guard Sector Charleston received a request for medical assistance from Alan Carl, 45, after sustaining an injury while fishing at the mouth of the North Santee River, Georgetown, SC. Officials said the man's arm was severed at the shoulder, possibly by the winch on board the shrimp boat. A Coast Guard helicopter from Air Facility Charleston arrived on scene and transported Carl to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

Houston-based Transocean Ltd has issued a final report on the explosion, fire and sinking of the oil drilling platform, the Deepwater Horizon, at the infamous Macondo well site in the Gulf of Mexico, April 2010

Deepwater Horizon was owned by Transocean and leased and operated by British Petroleum, Plc (BP). 11 men lost their lives and environmental damage to the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and local economies of the coastal states was vast.

The 854 page report issued by Transocean fourteen months after the disaster spared itself from any blame in the matter - according to Transocean BP was at fault.

Continue reading "Transocean Refuses Blame" »

The U.S. Supreme Court preserved the rule which has for 50 years helped seamen recover fair compensation for their injuries. The conservative justices had urged casting aside the well-established rule, created by Congress as interpreted by the Supreme Court in 1957, and replacing it with an English common law rule which would have assisted shipowners in avoiding liability for their negligence.

The majority of Judges in CSX Transportation, Inc. v. McBride held that if employer negligence plays any part in causing injury to a seaman the employer is liable for damages.

Continue reading "Conservative Judges Fail to Take Away Seamen's Rights" »

SEATTLE - Coast Guard units in partnership with local and state marine law enforcement agencies will patrol waters throughout the Pacific Northwest June 24-26, 2011, for Operation Dry Water, an annual campaign focused on the education, detection and enforcement of boating under the influence (BUI).

Operation Dry Water is a national initiative coordinated by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) in partnership with state and local agencies and the U.S. Coast Guard, aimed at reducing alcohol and drug-related accidents and fatalities on the water.

Continue reading "Intoxicated Boating Enforcement" »

Transocean, the owner of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that exploded last year on April 20, 2010 killing 11 oil rig workers and spread millions of gallons of oil across gulf waters and beaches, has issued an extensive report Wednesday that points most of the blame at BP, the owner of the Macondo well.

In the Transocean 854 page report released on Wednesday, Transocean said the Deepwater Horizon explosion that occurred on April 20, 2010 and resulting oil spill was the result of a "succession of interrelated well design, construction, and temporary abandonment decisions that compromised the integrity of the well and compounded the risk of its failure." Transocean said many of the decisions were made by well owner BP in the two weeks before the incident.

Continue reading "Transocean Blames BP" »

A Coast Guard helicopter and crew from Coast Guard Air Station Houston were on patrol when they spotted an overturned 18-foot boat in Galveston Bay on Sunday, June 19. The helicopter conducted a search of the area and spotted one person in the water. The crew hoisted Robert Rasmussen of Houston into the helicopter, who notified the Coast Guard that his father was still in the water.

The helicopter crew located a good Samaritan who had arrived on the scene and picked up the father, 59-year-old Richard Rasmussen of San Leon. Both father and son were transported to Air Station Houston for evaluation. Officials said both recovered men had their life jackets on when they were rescued and, having been in the water for over two hours, their life jackets undoubtedly saved their lives.

Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville received word of a sinking 26-foot boat about one mile southeast of Cape Canaveral, Thursday morning around 9:45 a.m. The captain noticed the boat listing and sinking; once in the water he was able to make a mayday call using a cell phone in a waterproof case. The Coast Guard deployed a 25-foot rescue boat crew and arrived on the scene shortly after.

When the Coast Guard arrived the boat was completely submerged and the passengers were in the water. The Coast Guard crew rescued five adults and two children from the water. Rescued were 23-year-old Katie Hart of Florida, 64-year-old Richard Leister of Kentucky, 35-year-old Richard Leister Jr. of Kentucky, 54-year-old Gary Lees of Tennessee, 11-year-old Nick Lees of Tennessee, and 9-year-old Nolan Lees of Tennessee.

All seven boaters were wearing life jackets at the time of the Coast Guard's arrival. None of the passengers required medical attention.

Royal Caribbean Cruises has been rebuked by a Florida judge, who has ruled that the cruise vessel showed grave indifference to the safety of its crewmembers and passengers.  The ruling came in a lawsuit filed after a toxic gas exposure incident on a Royal Caribbean Cruises vessel. Three crew members died, and at least 19 passengers were injured in that incident.

The poison gas exposure incident occurred on the Monarch of the Seas in September 2005.  The three crewmembers were repairing a pipe when there was a sudden release of high levels of hydrogen sulfide, killing them instantly. At least 19 people on the cruise line were injured. The lawsuit had been filed by a crew member on board at the time.
According to the judge, there was enough evidence to indicate that Royal Caribbean Cruises' conduct in this incident was intentional or an indication of gross negligence.

Continue reading "Gross Negligence Caused Deaths" »

The boat operator involved in a Presidents Day accident that ended with the deaths of two Middleburg High School students, including his son, has been cited with reckless operation.

Ted Hanner, 49, was operating the 1985 Baja bass boat on Black Creek near the Knight's Boat Ramp and Marina facility when he left the controls to pump the fuel bulb, a piece of equipment that helps get fuel to the motor, said Karen Parker, a spokeswoman from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. She said the boat was running kind of ragged and Hanner was trying to get more fuel to the motor. The boat veered to the north bank and crashed into a tree 3 feet off the water, according to commission at the time.

Hanner's son, Travis Hanner, 17, and the teen's girlfriend Halee Mickey, 15, were sitting in the bow of the 18-foot, 4-inch boat at the time. The teens died at the scene from severe blunt force trauma, the commission reported at the time. Ted Hanner was treated at Shands Jacksonville hospital and later released. Alcohol was not a factor, and the boat was traveling about 20 mph, Parker said. Reckless operation of a boat is a first-degree misdemeanor.

Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound is responding to the grounded fishing vessel Ruby Lily, which ran aground at Petos Island, Wash., with one person on board at approximately 1:30 a.m., Tuesday.

The operator of the 50-foot commercial vessel is uninjured and has decided to remain on board.

A Coast Guard Station Bellingham response boat crew reports the vessel is intact with no pollution sighted. Ruby Lily has approximately 4,800 gallons of diesel fuel onboard.

Continue reading "Coast Guard responds to grounding" »