SAFETY ALERT: Reassess towing, salvage risks - Professional Mariner - Web Bulletin 2018

SAFETY ALERT: Reassess towing, salvage risks - Professional Mariner - Web Bulletin 2018

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

Customer accuses boat steering mechanism manufacturer of negligence

Customer accuses boat steering mechanism manufacturer of negligence: CLEARWATER — An Oklahoma man is suing the manufacturer of a boat steering mechanism, alleging product liability.

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

Tanker crewman airlifted after eye injury off Florida - Professional Mariner - Web Bulletin 2018

Tanker crewman airlifted after eye injury off Florida - Professional Mariner - Web Bulletin 2018

Kings Bay dredging, Fernandina Beach renourishment starting soon Sand dredged from Kings Bay to be used at Fernandina Beach

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced start dates on Friday for the upcoming dredging of U.S. Naval Station Kings Bay and a sand placement project at Fernandina Beach. The Corps said the sand dredged from Kings Bay will be used in the Fernandina Beach project, saving about $13.5 million. 

Nassau County residents and visitors will begin seeing construction equipment and dredging pipes on Fernandina Beach around the first week of January in preparation for the next scheduled maintenance dredging of U.S. Naval Station Kings Bay and sand placement at Fernandina Beach, which is scheduled to begin mid-February. 

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.

Congressmen ask Obama to Waive Jones Act in BP Oil Spill

The Associated Press PENSACOLA, Fla. -- U.S. Sen. George LeMieux and U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller want President Barack Obama to waive a law they say is keeping foreign oil skimmers out of the Gulf of Mexico. The Florida Republicans sent a letter to Obama on Monday and plan to discuss the issue with him Tuesday during the president's visit to Pensacola to assess the BP oil spill in the gulf. The federal maritime administrator in emergencies can waive the Jones Act that bars foreign ships from carrying cargo and passengers between U.S. ports. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, who also was in Pensacola on Monday, said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has assured him skimmers from the Netherlands and other European counties are on their way. Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/06/14/1680503/fla-republicans-ask-obama-to-waive.html#ixzz0qvvQATz1

Dozens hurt in NYC ferry crash

NEW YORK - A Staten Island ferry boat with a history of accidents struck a pier as it approached a terminal Saturday, seriously hurting at least one person and leaving as many as 35 with minor injuries. The Andrew J. Barberi hit the pier at around 9:20 a.m. as it approached the St. George Ferry Terminal on Staten Island. The city's transportation commissioner said the ferry's throttle failed to engage as it came in for a landing. That meant the crew was unable to use the engines to slow the vessel.

Panel probing oil rig explosion to start work

ROBERT, La. — A board investigating a deadly oil rig explosion that caused a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will begin its work next week. The six-member panel is split between representatives of the U.S. Coast Guard and the Minerals Management Service. MMS spokesman John Callahan said a more detailed schedule will be released Friday. The board is tasked with investigating the cause of an April 20 explosion that killed 11 workers at an oil rig operated by BP PLC. BP is still trying to stop the leak spewing more than 200,000 gallons of oil a day. Authorities earlier said the investigative board will hear testimony from survivors of the explosion and technical experts. Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Girl nearly loses arm in boating accident / good recovery with help of doctors

Newswise — Kristen Kilpatrick could see the whirling propeller approaching after her fishing boat lurched forward, plunging her into the cold lake. “The motor creates this weird funneling and it just sucks you in. I just curled up into a little ball,” the Texas Christian University sophomore recalled. On a May 2009 weekend whim, she and friends had gone to the lake on her family’s ranch near Hico, located southwest of Stephenville. The engine was brutally unforgiving.

Ship engineer files Jones Act suit in Galveston

GALVESTON - An Alabama seaman is suing his employer for $75,000 for injuries he reportedly sustained on the job. Leslie Vincent Tapia accuses Supreme Offshore Services Inc. of failing to furnish him safe and proper equipment on board the M/V Warren Thomas. "Such a failure to provide proper working equipment proximately caused and resulted in the injuries and damages sustained by the plaintiff," the suit says. Under the Jones Act, the suit was filed Jan. 6 in Galveston County District Court and claims the vessel was not seaworthy. Tapia worked as an engineer on the Warren Thomas.

East Naples woman injured by boat propeller requests new trial

Naples — A lawyer for an East Naples woman severely injured by a boat propeller a decade ago asked for a new trial Tuesday, citing repeated “shenanigans” and violations by defense attorneys that “poisoned the jury.”

Coast Guard and tour boat collided in Charleston Harbor

Legal news for South Carolina personal injury attorneys. A small Coast Guard boat collided with a catamaran, injuring three people.Personal injury lawyers alert- A tour boat and a Coast Guard boat collision in Charleston Harbor injured three people. Charleston, SC—A small Coast Guard boat and a commercial catamaran collided in the Charleston Harbor, shortly after the annual Christmas Parade of Boats for unknown reason. The collision injured three people aboard the catamaran, which crashed around 8:30 p.m., as reported by The Post and Courier.

Acadien II victims launch lawsuit

The families of four sealers who died when their fishing boat sank near the Magdalen Islands in March 2008 have filed a $2.7-million lawsuit against the Canadian Coast Guard and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The two survivors of the sinking are also participating in the lawsuit. The 12-metre trawler L'Acadien II, from the Îles de la Madeleine, Que., was being towed by the Sir William Alexander in the Gulf of St. Lawrence on March 29, 2008, when the fishing boat hit an ice block and capsized off the coast of Cape Breton, N.S.

Ocean Isle parasailing fatalities spur stack full of lawsuits

WILMINGTON, N.C. -- Lawsuits and other filings stemming from the death of two women parasailers Aug. 28 off Ocean Isle Beach are piling up at U.S. District Court in Wilmington, N.C., with two more plaintiffs seeking damages from the parasail business and the business claiming in another filing that the manufacturers of the parasail and tow rope should pay whatever may be awarded.

'Buckle up' when on a boat this Fourth of July weekend

Coast Guard Petty Officer Michael Hulme uses a car analogy when encouraging boaters to wear a life preserver. "Do you put on your set belt right before an accident?" Hulme asks. "Mother Nature can be tough. It's always best to wear a life jacket." The Coast Guard, as well as Florida Fish and Wildlife, will be out in force this weekend patrolling the waterways as people celebrate the Fourth of July.

Coast Guard joins effort to crack down on drunken boaters in Keys

KEY WEST - The Coast Guard will be teaming up with state and Monroe County officials in the Florida Keys to make sure boaters don't overdo it on the water this weekend. The effort is called Operation Dry Water, and it's designed to highlight the dangers of operating a boat under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Boating under the influence is illegal in all 50 states and territories. Impaired boaters can expect fines and possible arrest.

Jones Act Article

Here is a short blog post on the Jones Act.

This firm like ours at Clark & Watson specializes in Jones Act cases. We have spent our entire careers learning the law and how to protect the rights of seamen who work on tugs, ships and other craft, on the water.

Dwayne Clark and Kristen Watson