NTSB cites bridge tender's delay in Louisiana barge allision - Professional Mariner - Web Bulletin 2018

NTSB cites bridge tender's delay in Louisiana barge allision - Professional Mariner - Web Bulletin 2018

Crew escapes as towboat burns on Lower Mississippi - Professional Mariner - Web Bulletin 2018

Crew escapes as towboat burns on Lower Mississippi - Professional Mariner - Web Bulletin 2018

Jacksonville Harbor Deepening Underway

Jacksonville Harbor Deepening Underway

Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship Fire

CNN) -- A voice on the intercom woke Danielle Miller and told her to put on her life jacket and run to a deck. Not knowing what the emergency was, she nervously woke up her roommate and did just that.

The emergency, as she and other passengers would learn, was a fire that started in the rear of Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas cruise ship about 2:50 a.m. Monday while it was heading to the Bahamas, sending guests to the decks under the night sky.

Though it never lost power, the ship was diverted to Freeport in the Bahamas, and the fire, which began in a mooring area, was extinguished just before 5 a.m., the company said.

The ship's 2,224 guests and 796 crew members initially were headed to CocoCay, Bahamas, but the ship was redirected to Freeport for evaluation, Royal Caribbean said.

Carnival Cruise Ship Stranded Gulf of Mexico

Passengers aboard a cruise vessel stranded in the Gulf of Mexico after a weekend engine fire have limited access to bathrooms, food and hot coffee, but also a new destination: Mobile, Ala.


Carnival Cruise Lines President and CEO Gerry Cahill said in a statement Monday that the Carnival Triumph had drifted so far north of its original position that it will be towed to the southern U.S. port, instead of the original plan to take it to Progreso, Mexico.



Cahill said strong Gulf currents caused the Triumph to drift about 90 miles north of its original position off the Yucatan Peninsula.



Cahill's statement said the ship should arrive in Mobile on Thursday and that the change will allow for less complicated re-entry for passengers without passports.



CBS News travel editor Peter Greenberg said on "CBS This Morning" that the waste management system was powered by electricity, and with electricity out on the ship, there is a danger of it turning into "a floating biohazard" before it reaches Alabama.

Three rescued from boat in St. Johns County

ST. JOHNS COUNTY. Fla. -- St. Johns County Fire Rescue saved three people after a boating accident Tuesday afternoon.
Fire officials say the accident happened around 3:30 p.m. on the shoals just north of the Matanzas inlet.
St. Johns County responded and found an approximately 16-foot fishing boat unmanned in the surf, and a second fishing boat helping two people from the water and one from the sandbar.
According to a news release, one of the victims was having a heart attack and a paramedic/rescue swimmer performed CPR. That patient was taken to Flagler Hospital in critical condition. The boat was later towed and secured by SJCFR marine rescue to a dock at Fort Matanzas.
No one else was injured and all three were wearing personal floation devices, according to SJCFR.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission is investigating the incident.

An oil tanker collided with a U.S. Navy destroyer near the Strait of Hormuz

An oil tanker collided with a U.S. Navy destroyer near the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday but no one was hurt and shipping traffic in the waterway, through which 40 percent of the world's seaborne oil exports pass, was not affected, officials said.
"Both vessels are okay and the Strait of Hormuz is not closed, and business is as usual there," an Oman coast guard official told Reuters, declining to be named under briefing rules.
The collision nevertheless left a gaping hole in the starboard side of USS Porter, a guided-missile destroyer suffered, but no one was injured on either vessel, the U.S. Navy said in a statement. The collision with the Panamanian-flagged bulk oil tanker M/V Otowasan occurred at approximately 1 a.m. local time.

A Packed Boat, a Celebration, a Deadly Turn

The sky over Long Island Sound, ignited moments earlier by an extravagant Fourth of July fireworks display, was suddenly bright again: a signal flare illuminated a marine disaster unfolding among the boats leaving the show.

Liner Captain Is Questioned in Capsizing Off Italy Coast

Filippo Monteforte/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Rescuers found three people on Sunday on the Costa Concordia, which ran aground off the coast of Giglio, Italy. More Photos »

By GAIA PIANIGIANI and SARAH MASLIN NIR

Published: January 15, 2012

GIGLIO, Italy — The captain of the cruise ship that capsized aground near an Italian island, killing at least five people, may have caused the accident by taking the ship too close to the island’s rocky shore, the owner of the vessel said on Sunday, as rescue workers extracted three survivors and two bodies from the wreck.

Investigation shows boater inexperience, speed cause of fatal boating accident

3:26 p.m. EST, June 11, 2012

A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission investigation into one of two deadly March boating accidents in Tavares determined that inexperience and the boater's speed was what caused one boater to die, according to a newly released report.
Mark Van Winkle, 53, of Stuart died after being ejected from his boat and was struck by a passing vessel on March 17 during an exhibition on Lake Dora. The event was part of the Classic Raceboat Association's annual Spring Thunder Regatta. Van Winkle's boat hit the water wrong and he was thrown from the vessel, the report said. He was struck just seconds later and died instantly.

8-year-old Pennsylvania girl killed in Putnam boating accident

An 8-year-old at a family reunion in Putnam County was killed Friday when the boat she was in lurched under a dock while she was sitting in a seat in the front of the boat. At the end of a St. Johns River boat ride around 6 p.m., the driver missed an attempt to maneuver onto a boat lift then on a second approach the 23-foot bowrider lurched ahead and under the dock. Olivia Wade, of Springdale, PA, was sitting in the seat and hit the dock. She was taken to Putnam Community Medical Center where she was pronounced dead. The accident happened in the 400 block of West River Road north of Palatka. Among six at the reunion, three were from Pennsylvania and three were from Jacksonville, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Federation. Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2012-03-25/story/8-year-old-pennsylvania-girl-killed-putnam-boating-accident#ixzz1qAT302H6

Girl critically injured in boating accident

TAMPA, Fla. - An 11-year-old girl is in critical condition after a boating accident in North Tampa. Florida Fish and Wildlife officials say the girl was tubing when she was struck by a propeller while climbing onto a boat on Lake Taray. The accident happened behind her home in the Avila community. She was transported to St. Joseph's Hospital. Her name has not been released. The FWC is investigating the accident. Read more: http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/region_tampa/girl-criticially-injured-in-boating-accident#ixzz1be2qoutr

Boy struck by propeller / Jacksonville Beach

A 6-year-old boy who apparently fell under a boat and was struck by its propeller at the Jacksonville Beach city boat ramp was hospitalized this evening with back lacerations, authorities said. The juvenile, whose name was not immediately available, is not thought to have life-threatening injuries, said Sgt. Tom Bingham of the Jacksonville Beach Police Department. Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2011-08-17/story/boy-struck-boat-propeller-jacksonville-beach-hospitalized#ixzz1VQESdlT0

Boat Operator Reckless in accident that Killed two Middleburg students

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. Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2011-06-10/story/boat-operator-reckless-february-accident-killed-2-middleburg-students#ixzz1PGQAgeUt

Seaman seeks $5M for wrongful termination after head injury

GALVESTON - Claiming he was wrongfully terminated after receiving a head injury on the job, a Galveston County seaman is seeking $5 million from his former employer. James Gowdy filed a Jones Act suit against Kinder Morgan Inc. on Jan. 13 in Galveston County District Court. He alleges he was injured on March 24 while working aboard the M/V Audrey. According to the original petition, Gowdy and a co-worker were tightening a mechanical wench when the co-worker lost control of a stainless steel teeter bar. The bar then shot across the deck and struck Gowdy in the head, the lawsuit states. Gowdy claims he recalls nothing after the incident until he woke up five hours later in a Sulphur, La., hospital, the suit says. The suit states that Gowdy sustained contusions and abrasions as well as injuries to his neck, legs and other parts of his body. He says he was unable to maintain his balance after the injury and unable to return to work. Gowdy claims his employment was then terminated. He consequently seeks a jury trial along with the $5 million in damages. The Buzbee Law Firm is representing the plaintiff, and Galveston County 56th District Court Judge Lonnie Cox is presiding over the case.

Mayport shrimp boat Miss Alberta capsizes; 1 dead

Mayport Coast Guard crews were off the coast of Amelia Island today, trying to determine if any pollution was caused by the Monday capsizing of a shrimp boat that killed a crew member.As of Tuesday morning, the Coaast Guard still had not identified the crewman, said Petty Officer 1st Class Christopher Evanson of the Mayport Coast Guard station. The sunken vessel, the 36-foot Miss Alberta, is posing no hazard to navigation for other ships and boats, Evanson said. The shrimp boat’s owner is responsible for removing the underwater wreckage, he said. Shrimper Tony Malone, first mate aboard another shrimp boat, the Joe Bip, said his boat got a distress call about 3 p.m. Monday from the Miss Alberta, which was shrimping nearby, about a half mile from shore. Waves were about 5 feet offshore and winds were coming from the south at 17.5 mph and gusting at 21 mph, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s weather buoy off the coast of St. Augustine. Malone dove into the water to save the two-member crew. “The boat was already upside down,” he said. He said he found the captain, who he and witnesses identified as Bo King of Mayport, swimming with his dead crew member tethered to him with a rope.

Iraq war vet killed in boating accident

DELAND, Fla. (AP) — Authorities have found the body of an Iraq war veteran who was thrown from a boat during a collision on a central Florida river.The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says divers from the Seminole County Sheriff's Office found the body of 36-year-old Jamie Orsten on Saturday. Orsten was thrown into the water after the boat he was riding in crashed with another vessel on the St. Johns River Friday evening. Officials say he was not wearing a life jacket. Commission spokeswoman Joy Hill said Orsten was an Army veteran of the Iraq war. Charges are pending the outcome of an investigation. ___ Information from: Orlando Sentinel, http://www.orlandosentinel.com

Florida seaman files Jones Act lawsuit against Houston company

9/27/2010 1:36 PM By Michelle Massey, East Texas Bureau A Florida seaman has filed a lawsuit against barge company claiming he was permanently injured. Robert Occhiogrosso filed suit against Maryland Marine Inc., doing business as Higman Barge Lines Inc., on Sept. 16 in the Eastern District of Texas, Beaumont Division. According to the lawsuit, the accident occurred on June 27, 2009, as Occhiogrosso was working as a member of the crew of the Tugboat Annopolis in Houston. He states the vessel's unsafe and unseaworthy conditions caused him to suffer permanent personal injuries to his body. Further, he states the accident was caused by the negligence of the defendant or the defendant's employees. The plaintiff is seeking more than $75,000 in damages for physical pain, mental anguish, loss of earnings, loss of earning capacity, medical expenses, loss of life's pleasures, loss of physical capacity, disfigurement, loss of ability to perform household services, interest and court costs. Occhiogrosso is represented by Harold Eisenman in Houston. Case No. 1:10-cv-00576

Jones Act Repeal Would Hurt Jacksonville Shipping Companies

Sen. John McCain’s proposed repeal of an 80-year-old maritime law could, if passed, shake up Jacksonville’s most entrenched trade lane and endanger three hometown shipping companies dependent on it. McCain, R-Ariz., argues that requiring all goods shipped between the nation’s ports to be transported by U.S.-built ships and sailed by American crews is protectionist and raises prices by excluding foreign competition. Supporters of the Jones Act counter that the law preserves security and the domestic maritime industries. The repeal of the law “would be devastating,” said Fred Schloth, Sea Star Line LLC’s assistant vice president of marketing. “When you look at [shipping] rates to Puerto Rico, they’re already competitive and can’t come down more.” Read more: Jones Act repeal would hurt local shipping firms - Jacksonville Business Journal

Seaman hit by ship 'tugger' sues two captains and a company

Claiming the "tugger" winch he was operating broke free from the vessel's deck and struck him, seaman Jesse Turner filed a Jones Act suit against the ship's owner and two captains. Turner, along with his wife Sonja, filed their suit against Cal Dive International and Captains Allen Brough and Glen Delahoussey on Aug. 16 in Jefferson County District Court. Court papers show Turner was a tension machine operator working aboard the vessel Rider owned by Cal Dive and captained by Brough and Delahoussey. On Aug. 20, 2008, Turner operated the ship's "tugger" winch laying pipeline between Alabama and Mississippi when it "broke free from the deck and slammed into him, causing in injuries," court papers say. "Unbeknownst to plaintiff, the tugger winch used to lay pipeline was improperly fixed to the deck," the suit states. "Cal Dive transported plaintiff ... past several facilities in order to take him to what they termed 'our hospital' in New Orleans." Turner claims the defendants negligently installed the winch and that the vessel was unseaworthy. He claims that two years after the incident he is still unable to return to work and is suing for past and future lost earnings and medical expenses. Huntsville attorney Hans Barcus of the Cantrell, Ray & Barcus law firm is representing him. Judge Gary Sanderson, 60th District Court, has been assigned to the case.