Dredging St. Johns River

Dredging St. Johns River - Dutra Group

EL FARO _ lost at sea _ Hurrican Joaquin

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/02/us/hurricane-joaquin/


The EL Faro has been missing for days. 
We remain hopeful the Coast Guard finds the crew today.
Dwayne Clark
Jacksonville Florida Maritime Lawyers

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.

2 Dead 1 injured after Boat Hits Dock in St. Augustine

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -

Two men are dead and a woman is in critical condition after a boat hit a dock in St. Augustine on Sunday night.

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The vessel was traveling south of the Bridge of Lions about 10 p.m. when it hit the dock connected to a home in the Pelican Reef neighborhood.

All three passengers were ejected into the water. Warren Hall and and Franklin Babb (pictured below on right), both 52, died in the crash. Alicia Babb (pictured below on left), 50, was critically injured.

Another boater was able to rescue Alicia Babb from the water, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Hall and Babb were recovered in the vicinity of the collision.

The three were returning to the Vilano Boat Ramp after a day of boating, officials said.

"He was my dad. I loved everything about him, everything," Frank Babb said Monday at the site of the crash. "He loved to fish. I wish he got to do more of it."

Pictured, right:
Alicia and Franklin Babb

"He loved this place and he's very well-known around town and loved helping people," said Danielle Rienks, Franklin Babb's daughter. "He would just break his back for people, and you couldn't ask for a better person, you really couldn't."

"He was an amazing father. He raised his children right by himself," added Lynn Rowland, Franklin Babb's sister. "He did a good job, he was a good man, he helped his friends, he lived life."

Babb, his wife, Alicia, and their friend Hall, who went by Chris, were out fishing Sunday and were on their way back.

"We certainly heard and felt the impact of him hitting the dock," said Jack Williams, who lives in Pelican Reef two doors down from the dock the 16-foot motorboat ran into. "The boat actually flew up over the dock and then dumped them all into the water. The fisherman saved the lady's life, there's no question about that."

That nearby fisherman saw the crash, pulled up his anchor, drove over and saved Alicia Babb.

Franklin Babb and their friend Hall, both born on the same day, didn't make it.

Williams ran out to his dock and saw a sneaker floating in the water.

"The next thing I knew, almost underneath my dock there was a body, a man's body in the water that was floating and coming by fairly fast," he said.

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.

Workers Missing After Oil-Rig Explosion - 11 remain missing

Twelve people were missing and seven critically injured after an explosion and fire at an oil-drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico. A Coast Guard rescue helicopter and crew document the fire aboard the mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater Horizon, while searching for survivors. .The rig, about 41 miles off the Louisiana coast, is owned and operated by Transocean Ltd. and contracted to British oil major BP PLC. A spokesman for Transocean said most of the 126 people on board were safe. A Coast Guard spokeswoman said 12 were still missing but said reports indicated that all 126 people got off the rig. The rig was still burning and listing. Four Coast Guard helicopters and an airplane are being used in rescue operations and five Coast Guard cutters are also responding, the Coast Guard said. "We are still in a search and rescue operation," Transocean spokesman Greg Panagos said. Billy Nungesser, president of Plaquemines Parish, has said that the missing people were in a lifeboat that drifted away from the rig while rescue workers were helping others. __________________________________ 11 remain missing on Thrusday::: One lawsuit filed

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A lawsuit is claiming the companies involved in an oil platform explosion off the Louisiana coast were negligent. The lawsuit was filed in New Orleans on Thursday on behalf of a Mississippi man who worked on the rig and is one of 11 people still missing after the blast. The lawsuit says Shane Roshto, of Amite (Ah-mit) County, Miss., was thrown overboard in the Tuesday night explosion and is feared dead. The rig is owned by Transocean Ltd. and was under contract to oil giant BP. Both are defendants in the lawsuit. A Transocean spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment and BP wouldn't discuss the suit.

Driver of boat gives his account

Todd Spangler said he didn't whip an inner tube carrying two women into a dock at West Shores Lake. Spangler said the women — his wife, Kim, and their close friend, Jennifer Finke-Dwyer — “skipped across the water like a rock” and didn't hit the dock until 3 to 6 seconds after they had fallen off of the tube he pulled behind his boat.

Names of 3 rescued boaters released - One dead

FORT MYERS, Fla. - We have an update on last night's fatal boat accident. Fish and Wildlife tells us a 12-foot vessel was towing a 10-foot vessel in the Caloosahatchee River's choppy water. The operator of the first boat fell in the water after his seat broke. Another passenger fell in after attempting to take control of the boat. The operator ultimately drowned, and was recovered within 100 feet of the accident site at nearby Rat Island. Officials say the accident was alcohol-related.

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.

Piracy Driving Up Shipping Costs - Africa's Dangerous Waters

While almost all the attention on and, hence, resources for combating piracy in African waters have of late been focused almost exclusively on the waters off the Somali coastline (see my most recent report on the "Return of the Somali Pirates"), a bloody attack last week is a reminder that the Gulf of Guinea on the opposite side of Africa can be equally dangerous—if not more so—even if it does not grab headlines with spectacular heists like this week's capture of the Greek supertanker MV Maran Centaurus as it was transporting more than two million barrels of oil destined for the United States.

Pirates Attack Oil Tanker Off Benin - Seaman Killed on Ship

(RTTNews) - Pirates have attacked a Monrovia-flagged oil tanker off the coast of the West African country of Benin, killing one seaman, officials said Tuesday.According to Benin's naval forces, the attack on the 230-meter long Cancale Star took place some 18 nautical miles off the country's coast. The vessel's chief engineer, a Ukrainian, was killed in the attack, which also left four other crew members injured.

Coast Guard still probing death of tugboat crewman - Tugboat Marlin

The U.S. Coast Guard says it is still investigating a 4 p.m. Sunday incident in which a tugboat crewman died. The 52-year-old crewman from the tugboat Marlin was found aboard the vessel unconscious and unresponsive.

Hospital Releases Two People In Tugboat Explosion

ESCATAWPA, Mississippi - There's new information on an explosion aboard a tug boat that killed two people. It happened Friday afternoon at the VT Halter ship terminal in Esctawpa, Mississippi along the Pascagoula River.Four people were hurt. Company officials are not releasing names, but a friend of one of the injured identifies him as Robert Nettles of Grand Bay. He was being transferred from Singing River Hospital in Pascagoula to USA Medical Center in Mobile, where another victim was taken by LifeFlight earlier in the afternoon. Company officials said the explosion happened aboard a tugboat. William Skinner, the Chief Executive Officer of VT Halter Marine, said, "They were cleaning a tank, getting it prepared to be painted." The family spoke out here.

Monica Burguera Foundation

In 2006 we blogged on a terrible boating accident in Miami. Some young people including Monica Burguera were killed and others injured. Recently we saw visits to our site regarding Ms. Burguera and wondered why. The activity is apparently because her family and friends have started a a non-profit organization, in order to educate boaters and help create awareness of the importance of boaters’ safety education. Here at Clark & Watson we consider ourselves boating safety advocates. This is a good thing and we encourage you to look at their foundation site found here.

Police officer dies in single-vessel accident near Hammocks Beach

A police officer from New York died in a single-vessel accident Saturday near Hammocks Beach.Officer Michael Nemes, 37, with the Southampton Town Police Department in New York was on vacation with his family in Onslow County, according to a press release from the Southampton Town Police Department.

Boating Accident Brunswick Georgia Leave 1 dead others injured

BRUNSWICK, Ga. -- One person was killed and two others had to be rescued when a boat ran into the jetties on Jekyll Creek. Coast Guard officials said a 23-foot pleasure craft struck the rocks near where the creek meets the ocean south of Brunswick early Sunday morning. The names of those involved were not released pending notification of next of kin. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources is investigating the cause of death. The Coast Guard received a mayday call from the boat at about 4:15 a.m. Sunday. A rescue boat crew from Coast Guard Station Brunswick crew found two people in the water, one of whom was later pronounced dead. A third boater who had been clinging to the damaged boat was rescued by a good Samaritan the accident.Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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.

Lady Mary Sinking - Coast Guard Hearing

Error in recording emerg radio (epirb) hurt search Vessel monitoring system programmer: 2 dozen boats near Lady Mary did not aid sinking vessel.Two dozen boats were in the general area of a stricken scalloping vessel when it sank off Cape May in March, but none came to its aid or joined a later search for survivors, a U.S. fisheries representative told a Coast Guard inquest board today. Testimony: Two boats passed near sinking trawler

CAPE MAY, N.J. - For two to three hours after a scallop boat is believed to have sunk off Cape May, the Coast Guard heard no mayday calls or any other radio reports that something was wrong. That was the testimony Monday from two Coast Guard officers as the agency resumed its hearing into the sinking of the Lady Mary, which went down off Cape May on March 24. Only one the seven crew members survived. The lapse in time from when the boat is believed to have sunk, and when the Coast Guard first heard something was wrong continued to be a main focus of the inquiry. The hearing was suspended in April to allow the ship's captain to hire a lawyer. A Coast Guard inspector says the Lady Mary passed a safety inspection last July. In another article it was said: Two crew members of the doomed scallop boat that sank off the coast last month may have been under the influence of marijuana when the ship went down, killing six of the seven crew members aboard, a witness in the hearing of the fatal sinking testified this morning. Timothy Smith, who died in the sinking, had high levels of the components of marijuana in the blood samples analyzed after the March 24 sinking, said Anthony Costantino, president and CEO of Drug Scan, the Pennsylvania lab hired by the U.S. Coast Guard to analyze the results of the blood tests. Another story goes on: A scallop boat that sank off the coast of Cape May may have tangled its fishing gear with another ship or an obstruction on the bottom of the ocean, the attorney for the ship's owner said yesterday. A cutter with a ROV was used to look at the vessel.

This article indicates that that Owner of the Lady Mary was critical of the Coast Guard Response.

Clay County updates county’s ordinances regarding boating safety

From the Clay County Sheriff's Office: ATTENTION BOATERS!Clay County has updated and made corrections to the county’s ordinances regarding boating safety. The following is a list of the changes that you, as a boater need to be aware of. These changes will take effect on 12-13-2009 or when posted (as appropriate).

How Crowded is Too Crowded on a Boat?? The Answer may not be as Clear as You Think??

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, FL -- Pleasure boats have a Coast Guard plate mounted near the helm listing the maximum weight and the maximum number of people that can safely be on board. But the operator of the Jacksonville Boat Club says that information can be misleading. "They have a safety label and a tag on each and every one of the boats, and it's rated for weight," said Ryan Walker. "There is a capacity on there, but it's based on a 120-to-140 pound person. And as you know, most people getting on the boats are a little heavier than that, unless they have kids, and that kind of stuff." Walker demonstrated that point with thirteen adults and one infant boarding a boat similar to the one that had fourteen aboard when it crashed in Palm Valley, killing five people. "The legal capacity of the boat sometimes far exceeds what's common sense-wise," said Walker, pointing out the demonstration of fourteen people on his 23-foot boat.

Re-posted by Jacksonville Florida Maritime Lawyers / Clark & Watson PA