Maritime Injury Lawyer Blog

An Alaska ferry worker was injured on the passenger loading ramp at Bellingham Cruise Terminal, in Fairhaven.

The ferry ramp operator, who was not identified, was lowering the passenger ramp into place on the stern of the ship when a cable snapped and the ramp collapsed. The worker fell about 20 feet, landing on the damaged ramp.

Workers called an ambulance and the injured ferry worker was taken to St. Joseph hospital. No update on her condition was available Friday evening.

The M/V COLUMBIA, a 418-foot vessel, was scheduled to leave the terminal, 355 Harris Ave., at 6 p.m., but was delayed.

No foot passengers were boarding the ferry at the time of the accident. A few had already driven vehicles onboard.

The Coast Guard will again be conducting Operation Safe Crab to reduce the loss of lives and fishing vessels in the west coast crab fleet.

Coast Guard personnel will be available on the docks for dockside exams in ports from Monterey, Calif., to Crescent City, Calif., Nov. 6-8 to help identify and mitigate safety hazards in the crab fleet.

Coast Guard personnel will be walking the docks and informing commercial crab vessel operators of the required lifesaving equipment for their vessels, as well as pot-loading practices affecting vessel stability and watertight integrity. The 2010 Authorization Act changed the law for commercial fishing vessels, making it mandatory for vessels operating outside of three nautical miles to have a dockside examination after Oct. 15, 2012. Dockside exams have reduced the number of casualties and helped identify potential problems. 11th Coast Guard District statistics show nearly one-third of Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacons and life rafts carried on board were incorrectly installed. This type of situation is easily corrected and can help prevent a disaster at sea. Those vessels with serious safety discrepancies, such as overloading, lack of watertight integrity, missing primary life saving equipment or non-functioning EPIRB's, can be restricted from operating until the discrepancies are corrected.

Implemented in 1991, the Coast Guard's Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety Program is designed to help commercial fishermen identify and eliminate potential safety hazards. Successful completion of a dockside exam can also make any future at-sea Coast Guard boarding greatly abbreviated.

All California commercial crab fishermen are encouraged to contact their local Coast Guard Fishing Vessel Safety examiner with any questions or to schedule an exam.

Original article at http://www.uscgnews.com/go/doc/4007/1593223/Coast-Guard-to-conduct-Operation-Safe-Crab

24-year-old man who was diving for sea cucumbers experienced problems while under water near Alitak Bay, Oct 23, which is at the south end of Kodiak Island. He surfaced short of breath, losing consciousness at times, and with symptoms of possible cardiovascular problems. The crew of Kodiak-based, 48-foot PATRICIA KAY performed CPR and called for help, the man was airlifted by Coast Guard helicopter to medical care.

According to reports, the diver had run out of air and had to surface too quickly. His name has not been released. At last word, he was said to be in stable condition.

The owner/captain of F/V DARLIN' MICHELLE, Theodore Lynch of Haines, AK, went overboard while shrimping about a mile west of Skagway Harbor, AK, during the early afternoon of October 23. Attempts to pull him back into the boat failed. According to an initial Alaska State Patrol report, Mr. Lynch's son-in-law repeatedly threw a life ring to him in order to pull him in, but Mr. Lynch's life jacket detached and came off of him during the third try at being pulled on board. He was unable to grab on and was lost.

Three Good Samaritan vessels, the Coast Guard, and Alaska State Troopers, and a Temsco Air helicopter crew searched a total of about twenty square miles before suspending their search.

A tugboat crew escaped their vessel after it hit a rock in Norton Sound and began taking on water, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Coast Guard spokesperson Petty Officer 1st Class David Mosley says watchstanders received a report that the 70-foot tug Captain Hendren had run aground north of St. Michael.

The two crew members aboard donned survival suits, then entered a life raft which drifted ashore. They were picked up by residents of St. Michael to be warmed and treated for potential injuries.

Mosley says the Coast Guard had ramped up for an active response, but stood down once the crew was reported safe.

A Bellingham couple assisted in the rescue of a man adrift for 26 hours in a plastic fish bin in Alaskan waters last month.

Tele Aadsen and Joel Brady-Power saw 19-year-old Ryan Harris, who was afloat in open seas after his boat capsized northwest of Sitka, Alaska. The 28-foot aluminum boat with Harris and a crewmate had capsized Friday afternoon near the south end of Kruzof Island. They had no radio or cell phone, and friends reported them missing Friday night after they failed to return.

Shortly before 1 p.m. Saturday, a search vessel found Harris' crewmate alive on a beach. The crewmate had managed to don a survival suit after entering the water.

Harris didn't have a survival suit, but was wearing a float coat, a warm jacket with buoyancy. At one point, it is reported, he tipped into the water, but managed to right the plastic fish bin and stay afloat.

The U.S. Coast Guard rescued three crew members who abandoned their burning fishing vessel, the 35-foot HAVANNA, for a life raft 17 miles west of Cannon Beach.

A Dolphin helicopter crew flew up from Air Facility Newport,located the three survivors and lowered a rescue swimmer, who disconnected from the helicopter and swam to the raft.

The helicopter crew hoisted all three survivors and the rescue swimmer. The crew of the HAVANNA were transferred to local emergency medical service technicians.

On Friday, October 5, 2012, Donald Hatch, an Edmonds resident, was killed when a 44-foot cabin cruiser collided with his small boat during a fishing outing off Seattle's Shilshole Bay.

The United States Coast Guard confirmed Hatch died after a 44-foot cabin cruiser, the SHELMAR, collided with his 16-foot aluminum skiff. Hatch's companion on the boat was, John Johnson, of Mountlake Terrace. Hatch and Johnson had taken Hatch's skiff about a mile off Shilshole on Friday.

At about 4:10 p.m., the cabin cruiser SHELMAR collided with the skiff. Hatch and Johnson were thrown into the water, according to Eric Cookson, Coast Guard command duty officer. The two occupants of the SHELMAR pulled the men from the water, Cookson said.

When Suquamish Tribal police arrived on the scene Hatch wasn't breathing and had no pulse, Cookson said. Police performed CPR, but couldn't revive Hatch.

Johnson was taken to Seattle's Harborview Medical Center, and later released. His injuries were not immediately known.

The SHELMAR is owned by Robert Wood, who was on the boat at the time of the collision, but it's unclear if he was operating it, Cookson said.

Seattle police spokeswoman Renee Witt wouldn't release any further information Saturday, saying the accident is under investigation.

The vessels have been impounded.

Source: Christine Willmsen, Seattle Times

The U.S. Coast Guard has reported that five fishermen were rescued from Sitkinak Island south of Kodiak early this morning after their 58-ft fishing vessel struck a rock and started taking on water.

Coast Guard spokesperson Petty Officer 1st Class David Mosley, said the crew of the KODIAK ISLE contacted watchstanders just after midnight Thursday. They donned survival suits and abandoned ship in a life raft that drifted ashore on Sitkinak Island, as the Coast Guard issued an urgent marine information broadcast and sent an MH-60 Jawhawk helicopter to the area.

"The helicopter crew arrived on scene at 2 a.m., spotted a flare from the fishermen, and safely hoisted the five men who were transferred to Kodiak with no reported injuries," Mosley wrote.

Coast Guardsmen praised the Kodiak Isle crew's preparedness, as well as the specific steps they took to assist their rescue.

"The fishermen took the proper steps to help ensure their safety during this emergency situation," said Petty Officer 1st Class Lauren Brady, a Coast Guard Sector Anchorage watchstander. "They immediately alerted us that they had an emergency and needed help. They then put on survival suits and entered their life raft with flares and an emergency location beacon, which allowed the helicopter crew to quickly locate them."

The Coast Guard is reporting that one crewman is missing from the fishing vessel MAVERICK after the vessel collided with the fishing vessel VIKING STORM. Three or four crewmen aboard the MAVERICK were rescued by the VIKING STORM after the two vessels collided 30 miles west of La Push. The Coast Guard is continuing an air and sea search for the missing crewman. The accident occurred on Friday, Sept. 28. The three rescued crewmen are reported to be in stable condition.

Coast Guard Sector Anchorage received a mayday call from crewmembers of the 110' commercial fishing vessel, the F/V MOONLIGHT MAID. The fishing vessel encountered high winds and 13' seas before when it began taking on water. The fishing vessel was more than 30 miles south of Resurrection Bay.

A Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak launched and rescued the four fishermen from a life raft at 10:51 p.m. The put on their survival suits before abandoning ship. The men were safely transported to Seward at 1:03 a.m. Friday, with no reported injuries.

On Monday, Sept 24, the Washington D of E and the Coast Guard responded to a report that 71-foot wooden hulled F/V WESTERN FLYER, built in 1937, had sunk with a possible 750 gallons of fuel in the northern part of the Swinomish Channel near the Twin Bridge Marina and was causing noticeable oil sheen above the vessel, with some of it spreading southward down the channel.

Global Diving and Salvage Company has been contracted by the Coast Guard to place an oil boom, plug and patch the source of the leak, and remove the fuel from the boat. Details on the sinking of WESTERN FLYER have not been released.

The Coast Guard confirmed that a W&T Offshore gas platform located in the Gulf of Mexico caught fire Wednesday morning, forcing three workers to evacuate.

Two of the workers suffered minor injuries as they evacuated the platform located in 120 feet of water about 29 miles south of Terrebonne Parrish, La.'s Dernieres Barrier Island Refuge.

W&T Offshore's Janet Yang said the accident occurred on an oil-processing platform, not a drilling rig. Yang said she did not believe an active well was located at the site.

The fire was reported at 10:20 a.m. Five contracted response vessels sprayed water on the platform had it extinguished by 2 p.m.

W&T officials reported that an inspection cover on a heater-treater valve cover blew out, causing the fire. It also resulted in a hydrocarbon spill that caused a sheen 600 yards long by a half-mile wide to form. Workers were able to shut in the platform before evacuating, preventing additional pollution from entering the water.' The sheen was still present, but reports indicated it was dissipating.

According to the US Coast Guard crews from the Cutter Seneca assisted seven people aboard a sinking fishing vessel about 150 miles east of Cape Cod, Mass., at approximately 10 p.m. Saturday.

Watchstanders from the Sector Southeastern New England Command Center received a distress call from the 79-foot F/V Linda at approximately 2:02 p.m. reporting that their vessel was taking on water with seven people aboard.

A fishing vessel in the area located the distressed fishing vessel and reported that the vessel was stable, utilizing pumps, all people aboard were outfitted with survival suits and a life raft was prepared. Meanwhile the Cutter Seneca, a Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod  MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter crew and an HU-25 Falcon Jet crew arrived on scene and assisted the vessel with dewatering, shoring the damaged hull and restarting the engine.  

"The Coast Guard would like to stress the importance of having dewatering and shoring equipment on board vessels to increase readiness in times of mishaps at sea," said Petty Officer 1st Class Seth Caron, an operation unit controller at Sector Southeastern New England Command Center.

The Coast Guard escorted the 79-foot fishing vessel Linda to its homeport of New Bedford, Mass.

September 21, 8:35 p.m., the Coast Guard received a call from the 52-foot F/V MELVILLE that a crewmate had fallen and suffered a serious head injury about 90 miles west of the mouth of the Columbia River.

The Coast Guard helicopter arrived when MELVILLE was about 75 miles from the river mouth. A rescue swimmer was lowered, and climbed aboard to help the uninjured crewman clear the MELVILLE deck and prepare the injured man for air lift. The injured man was lifted by helicopter to the air station in Astoria, where he was transferred by EMS to Columbia Memorial Hospital.