Jurors find boat manufacturer partly liable

A federal jury Monday found a boat manufacturer partially liable for a 2005 incident on Lake Austin in which a teen's leg was severed by a propeller. Jurors ordered the company to pay $3.8 million in medical expenses and damages. After deliberating for about seven hours, jurors found that the Brunswick Corp. shared more than half of the blame for the accident that severely injured Jacob Brochtrup, who was then 18. Brunswick officials said in a statement after the verdict that they "stand behind our products, which are used safely and properly by boaters around the world." Jurors found that Brochtrup also was responsible, as was the driver of the boat.

As Drilling Increases, Maritime Accidents Will Inevitably Rise

April 01, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- As Drilling Increases, Maritime Accidents Will Inevitably Rise. Increased crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico has sparked hope that the recession will soon end. As the nation returns to economic health, shipping lanes, ports and the gulf oil and gas production and drilling industry will get busier with goods moving in and out. That is good news for the area and the rest of the country. The bad news, however, is that worker injuries on the often-dangerous oil rigs, drill ships, supply and crew boats, and inland vessels such as tugboats and towboats, typically rise as production increases.

Blizzard guilty of negligent homicide, jury deadlocks on other charges

LACONIA – A Belknap County jury found a Laconia marina operator guilty of negligent homicide when she drove her 37-foot Formula boat into Diamond Island on Lake Winnipesaukee in 2008, killing her best friend.

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.

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.

Trial called in Lake George tour boat tragedy

Albany, New York - March 9, 2010 A federal judge has called a trial to determine whether another boat's wake contributed to a deadly tour boat accident on Lake George. In 2005 the Ethan Allen capsized, killing 20 elderly passengers from the Midwest. The Lake George Steamboat Company filed a request asking a judge to dismiss liability claims that its tour boat's wake contributed to the accident. On Monday the judge refused, setting a trial for June 10. Claims against the boat owner, operator and tour organizer have been settled. WCAX News

Crime or tragic accident? --Trial opens in boating fatality

The driver of a boat on trial for negligent homicide in the Father's Day 2008 death of a 34-year-old Meredith woman had a blood-alcohol level one-and-a-half times the legal limit of .08 when the power boat she was piloting hit Diamond Island, according to the state. Prosecutor Jim Carroll told jurors during opening arguments Monday in the trial of Erica Blizzard, 37, of 36 Gold Street, Lakeport, that the defendant was "impaired" when she crashed the 37-foot 2008 Formula 370 SS she was piloting into the 27-acre island located in The Broads — the widest section of the lake.

Body of Tugboat Crewmember in Houston Ship Channel Accident Recovered

The body of the tugboat worker who had been missing since the vessel sank this week, has been found. The vessel, JR Nichols sank on Wednesday night. There were five workers on board and four were rescued from the water. The fifth crewmember had been missing for a few hours. The next morning, his body was recovered by salvage workers. The Coast Guard says it is continuing its investigation into the sinking of the tugboat. The vessel was operated by Kinder Morgan

3 families in fatal boat crash suing Coast Guard

Three Rancho Peñasquitos families involved in a Coast Guard boat crash that killed an 8-year-old boy in December sued the federal government yesterday for wrongful death and negligence, with hopes of making the service overhaul how it operates on San Diego Bay. Five days before Christmas, Anthony Cole DeWeese was on his family’s 24-foot Sea Ray with 12 others attending the San Diego Bay Parade of Lights when the pleasure craft was hit by a 33-foot Coast Guard vessel rushing to help a grounded boater.

Boat’s owner convicted in Fremont Canyon crash - Partying Ends Badly on Boat

CASPER — A jury on Thursday found a Casper man guilty of two counts of aggravated assault for his role in a boat accident last spring that left four people seriously injured. Seth Linaman, 31, was also found guilty of boating under the influence. The jury of seven men and five women needed roughly two hours to reach a verdict. Linaman, standing with his attorney, showed no emotion when the announcement was made. Deliberations began at roughly 3:45 p.m., following closing arguments by Assistant District Attorney Daniel Itzen and defense attorney Richard Jameison. Including Linaman, the boat’s owner, there were four people aboard the vessel when it struck a Fremont Canyon wall at Alcova Reservoir on May 16. Everyone aboard suffered severe injuries.

Seaman hit by sledge hammer plans to settle Jones Act suit

A week before his trial was to start, a Mississippi seaman said he intends to settle his personal injury lawsuit against Rowan Companies. As the Southeast Texas Record reported in August 2008, Nicky Hutson filed suit against his employer after being bonked on the head with a sledge hammer by a fellow shipmate. He claimed the company negligently failed to supervise its employees. The trial was slated to begin Feb. 8. However, on Monday, Feb. 1 the parties called the office of presiding Jefferson County Judge Milton Shuffield, 136th Judicial District, and reported that the parties had reached a tentative settlement.

Life-threatening injuries after Jacksonville boat accident

Three adults and a child were involved in a boating accident Tuesday night at Pottsburg Creek, Jacksonville police said. The incident occurred at a boat dock in the 500 block of Bayridge Road. A Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department spokesman said one person was taken to Shands Jacksonville with life-threatening injuries, but couldn’t provide any other details, citing medical privacy laws. This is an update. Apparently the injuries were not life threatening. FWC report.

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.

Coast Guard Medevacs seaman from tug - Andy Syska

Coast Guard medically evacuates man from tug boat JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Coast Guard medically evacuated a 47-year-old man Sunday night from a 92-foot tug boat near the entrance of the St. Johns River near the Mayport, Fla., jetties. A Coast Guard Station Mayport 47-foot Motor-Lifeboat crew evacuated Andy Syska, hometown unknown, from the vessel Peggy Winslow. A crewmember aboard the vessel sent a radio distress call to Coast Guard search and rescue coordinators at Sector Jacksonville around 7 p.m. to report Syska suffered a leg injury and was in severe pain. The Coast Guard crew transported Syska to awaiting EMS at the Mayport boat ramp. Syska was reportedly in fair condition.

Juries and the Jones Act

This is from the Supreme of Washington Blog: Endicott v. Icicle Seafoods, Inc., No. 82635-8. The Jones Act is a federal law that allows an injured seaman to sue his employer for negligence. Here, Justin Endicott's arm was crushed by a fish cart aboard Icicle Seafood's ship "Bering Star." He sued in King County Superior Court under the Jones Act and the doctrine of unseaworthiness. The Superior Court allowed Endicott to opt for a bench trial (no jury) and ruled for him on both claims. Icicle appeals on four grounds; the Court today addresses two: the bench trial and an award of prejudgment interest. The decision is unanimous, and the opinion, written by Justice Stephens, includes a summary of the history of the Jones Act. On the jury trial question, the Ninth Circuit and California have held that the Jones Act grants plaintiffs "a substantive federal right to elect the mode of trial," while the Fifth and Seventh Circuits, Louisiana, and California, have found that while the plaintiff can choose "the jurisdictional basis of trial (in admiralty vs. at law) ... jury trial rights flow from this election as procedural incidents." While the trial court adopted the Ninth Circuit position, the State Supreme Court today sides with the Fifth and Seventh Circuits. The Court holds that while the Jones Act grants Endicott the right to bring his case in state court, once he has made that decision, Washington's constitutional right to a jury trial applies. The prejudgment interest award is upheld, but only because it is permitted in a bench trial. The case is remanded for a new trial. (briefs and argument)