Maritime Injury Lawyer Blog

On Friday, April 1, Transocean announced to its shareholders that it paid executives multi-million dollar bonuses for the company's safety record.

On April 4, 2011, upon hearing of the bonuses, Interior Secretary, Ken Salazar blasted the company for declaring the year 2010 to be "the best year in safety performance" in the company's history. The year 2010 was witness to the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon that killed 11 people followed by an oil spill that poured 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

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A 35 foot boat carrying children with developmental disabilities flipped over in San Diego Bay, killing two people. There were a total of 10 people aboard, including two children, the boat capsize throwing all the passengers into the water.

There were nine passengers on board, including two children aged between 10 and 11, one with special needs. Boaters in the area were able to rescue the passengers in the water, but two people drowned. One, a woman, suffered serious injuries and was hospitalized in a critical condition. Most of the injuries were linked to hypothermia.

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A tugboat crew member has filed an unseaworthiness lawsuit against his employer, claiming that his employer failed to provide a safe and seaworthy the vessel, causing his injuries.  The lawsuit was filed on 22 February in New Orleans against the worker's employer, D & S Marine Services.

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One son died, his brother missing in a boating incident. The St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's Office has confirmed the death of the 63-year-old man in a boat accident in Lake Borgne near the Mississippi River.

The two brothers were apparently fishing at about 3:30 PM on Saturday when they were thrown from their 18-foot boat.  According to the Sheriff's Office, there appears to have been a mechanical malfunction of the boat which was not involved in a collision. Relatives on another fishing vessel nearby heard a loud noise and saw the boat spinning out of control throwing the two brothers into the water. The victim had suffered serious injuries, likely caused by the propeller. He was unresponsive to CPR, and was declared dead at the scene.

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The worst-case scenario has become reality for the port of Mazatlan with the departure of both Holland America Lines and Princess Cruises for the remainder of the winter/early spring cruise travel season. After the departure of Disney Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Lines and Carnival Cruises after cruise passengers were mugged and robbed near the pier in the Pacific Coast resort city, Mazatlan officials were hopeful that their commitment to improved security would keep at least some of the cruise lines in town for the season. But recent murders including that of two men in a popular hotel parking lot in broad daylight sealed the fate of the cruise ship arrivals for the remainder of this season.

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The second permit in the last 2 weeks has been approved by the U.S. government for deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico since the BP oil spill disaster in 2010.

In the midst of an ongoing recovery in the region since the oil spill disaster, the first permit was granted to Noble Energy, Inc., allowing it to operate an existing well about 70 miles southeast of Venice, Louisiana.

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A New Iberia drill worker was killed in an accident when a drilling rig fell on a barge in the Atchafalaya Basin. The accident occurred earlier this week.

According to the Iberville Parrish Sheriff's Office, the 30-year-old worker was trapped in between the rig and a tank after the drilling rig tipped over and fell on the barge. The accident occurred on Wednesday afternoon. Rescue personnel rushed to the scene, but it soon became clear that this was not going to be a rescue effort as much as a recovery operation. The man had died, and it took personnel more than five hours to extricate his body. During the accident, a big steel toolbox had also fallen on the victim, and firemen needed to cut through it using the Jaws of Life, to get to the victim. The man was declared dead soon after.

Continue reading "Worker Killed in Drilling Rig Incident" »

The Coast Guard says it medevaced a 59-year old woman from a cruise ship off the Virginia coast to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital on Thursday.

The woman, along with a nurse from aboard the ship, were transported via a Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Royal Caribbean's "Explorer of the Seas," which was located 230 miles east of Cape Henry.

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Records from the National Transportation Safety Board point to cell phone use by the mate operating the tugboat, as a critical factor in the deadly collision between a barge and a Ride the Ducks tugboat last year.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the mate, Matt Devlin, was on the phone checking in on a family emergency.  His son was going through a medical procedure, and had suffered a life-threatening condition.  According to cell phone records, Devlin was on the phone at least 21 times between 12:22 PM and 2:38 PM on the day of the accident.

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A 68-year-old man experiencing chest pains was airlifted from a cruise ship 140 miles out to sea on Saturday, authorities said.

San Diego Harbor Police received a report of the man's condition just after 2:30 a.m. from the ship, Rotterdam, which was 140 miles offshore, according to Allyson Conroy, a Coast Guard spokeswoman.

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The offshore industry in Canada has been under tremendous pressure to revise its helicopter flight policies after the tragic offshore helicopter crash in 2009 that killed 17 oil rig workers. An association of offshore companies in that country has announced that it will stop helicopter flights over rough seas.

The helicopter crash involved a Cougar helicopter that went down off the coast of Newfoundland, killing 17 workers. Since then, the offshore helicopter industry in Canada has been under pressure from offshore safety groups and maritime attorneys, to show some progress towards the safety of the oil rig workers who travel on these flights every day.

Continue reading "Flying Over Rough Seas to Stop" »

New BP Atlantis government report has been released that clears BP Atlantis rig located in the Gulf of Mexico of any serious allegations. The report "found no grounds for suspending the operations of the Atlantis, or revoking BP's designation as an operator," according to the report by the Bureau for Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement.

The bureau is the successor to the troubled Minerals Management Service, which failed to properly oversee BP's Deepwater Horizon, the rig that exploded April 20, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 oil rig workers and causing the worst oil spill in history.

Continue reading "Report Says BP Atlantis is Safe " »

The Department of the Interior has issued the first deep water drilling permit in the Gulf of Mexico to Noble Energy, Inc. since the BP Oil Spill, a senior official said Monday.

After a thorough vetting process, Noble Energy Inc. has been granted permission to resume drilling in 6,500 feet of water off the coast of Louisiana. Work on the well was suspended, along with virtually all other drilling activity in water deeper than 5,000 feet, immediately after the Deepwater Horizon accident last April 20, which killed 11 rig workers and spewed nearly five million barrels of oil into the ocean.

Continue reading "First Permit Since BP Catastrophe" »

The Canada Transportation Safety Board has completed its investigation of an offshore helicopter crash in 2009 that killed 17 people, and has recommended that helicopter manufacturers increase safety standards on their aircraft to prevent such crashes in the future.

Specifically, the Transportation Safety Board is calling on helicopter manufacturers to ensure that helicopters flying to offshore locations meet the 30-minute standard.  In other words, these helicopters must be able to operate for at least 30 minutes after a major gearbox failure.  Gearbox failure is one of the factors that have been blamed for the Sikorsky helicopter crash that claimed 17 victims in 2009.

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Four Americans who were taken hostage by Somali pirates on their yacht  February 18 off East Africa were shot and killed by their captors, Tuesday, February 22.

The four Americans killed were Jean and Scott Adam, from Southern California, and Phyllis Mackay and Robert Riggle, from Seattle. This is the first time U.S. citizens have been killed in pirate attacks in years.

A member of a U.S. special operations force killed one of the pirates with a knife as he went inside the yacht, said Vice Adm. Mark Fox, commander of U.S. naval forces for the Central Command.

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