7 year old driving boat kills his mother in accident

The Virginia Marine Police will ask the Hampton commonwealth's attorney to determine whether any charges should be filed in a boating accident that killed a 35-year-old woman Sunday. The motorboat was being driven by the woman's 7-year-old son when it struck a pier and threw her into the windshield and then off the back of the boat. Elizabeth J. Elliott of Hampton was taken to Riverside Regional Medical Center, where she died. The five passengers on board were headed home on the Hampton River about 6:15 p.m. when an adult briefly let the 7-year-old steer, said John Bull, a marine police spokesman.

Coast Guard probes death of two found on boat

PONCE INLET -- The Coast Guard, along with Volusia County Beach Patrol, are investigating the death of a man and woman found dead on a boat Sunday morning. Coast Guard officials told FLORIDA TODAY Local 6 someone found the couple in medical distress on a Cuddy Cabin-style boat that was anchored near Disappearing Island in the Intracoastal waterway at Ponce Inlet. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission identified the couple as Howard and Sandra Lynn Lupton, of Palatka. Officials told Local 6 the Luptons likely died from carbon monoxide poisoning on the boat. The Luptons were sleeping on the boat when they were poisoned, police said. Disappearing Island is a popular recreation spot that forms from sandbars when the tide goes out. Over Memorial Day weekend, Madison Holly, her unborn child, and her father, were killed in the same area in a boating accident. n

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

Florida’s Attorney General requests Obama to waive Jones act to hasten oil spill efforts

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA (BNO NEWS) – Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum on Friday sent a letter to President Barack Obama, asking for a limited waiver on the Jones Act to hasten the oil spill response and the cleanup efforts. The Jones Act is impeding that the most advanced skimmers and other vessels in the world cannot be used in the oils spill recovery efforts as the law indicated that the transportation of merchandise between U.S. points is reserved for American built, owned, and documented vessels.

Volusia boating accident kills father, pregnant daughter

PONCE INLET -- A pregnant woman who was due to give birth in two weeks and her father were killed Monday in a two-boat crash at Ponce Inlet.

See also, this Orlando Sentinel article on the collision and deaths.

Here is another story stating some of the facts from preliminary investigations.

Transocean Can’t Cap Spill Liability Using Old Law, Lawyers Say

The below article is interesting. Transocean the owner of the rig is attempting to limit its liability to the value of the Deepwater Horizon after it sank to the bottom of the Gulf. The lawyers for the claimants are arguing that all the Transocean rigs are working as a "floatilla" and thus Transocean would have to post a bond for the value of 138 rigs or 23 Billion dollars. That could get very expensive for Transocean.

May 26 (Bloomberg) -- Transocean Ltd. can’t use a 150-year- old statute to cap its liability against claims arising from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, lawyers for victims of the disaster said at a hearing in federal court in Houston. The Oil Pollution Act of 1990, passed after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, supersedes the older law in this situation, attorneys for the Louisiana Environmental Action Network and the United Commercial Fisherman’s Association said in court papers, citing earlier decisions. Even under the old law, the negligence of BP and Transocean would make it inapplicable, plaintiffs’ lawyer Kurt Arnold told U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison.

Oil Spill Rate / Counter

This is a PBS counter that gives you the range of oil that is leaking into the Gulf of Mexico. If you move the counter you can adjust the spill rate based upon what BP and the Government say or what the worse case senario is. In any case it is VERY BAD.

Gulf oil spill could reach Florida Keys by Sunday

By Associated Press / May 18, 2010 Tampa, Florida University scientists are forecasting that oil from the spill off Louisiana could reach Florida's Key West by Sunday. University of South Florida researchers said Tuesday the southern arm of the massive spill has entered or is near the so-called loop current, which circulates in the Gulf and takes water south to the Florida Keys and the Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream could eventually take the oil up Florida's Atlantic coast. Twenty tar balls were found by the Coast Guard off Key West on Monday. They are being tested by the Coast Guard to see if they came from the Louisiana spill or elsewhere. Tar balls can occur naturally or come from other sources such as ships. USF scientists use currents, wind forecasts and other elements to make their predictions.

Jacksonville brothers, friend clung to cooler for three days in ocean before rescue

Two Jacksonville brothers and a friend who are the lucky survivors of spending three days at sea clinging to a cooler after their boat flipped during a fishing trip off Mayport Sunday expect to be in the arms of their families later tonight, the U.S. Coast Guard said this afternoon. "Anytime you have a search and rescue case like this, luck is going to play a factor if they're going to come home," said Michael Hulme, a Coast Guard spokesman said. "We're extremely excited the three individuals will be able to go home tonight with their families."

3 Boaters Missing Off Mayport - Jacksonville Florida

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for three boaters who left Mayport Sunday morning and did not return by the end of the day. Authorities said John J. Navaraz, 32, Elijs Navaraz, 31, and Rebecca Sullivan, 28, did not return as scheduled on Sunday night. The truck that the group used to launch their 20-foot pleasure craft named Problem Child remained at the boat ramp in Mayport.

Deepwater Horizon owner Transocean seeks liability limit

Transocean, owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig that exploded and sank last month killing 11 and creating a growing oil spill, today got a Houston judge to stay pending cases against the company. U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison today issued an order suspending cases against Transocean because the company filed a request to limit its liability in the lawsuits filed against it to $26.7 million. Lawyers involved in the myriad of lawsuits filed against Transocean, rig leaser BP and others said they expected Transocean would take advantage of the Limitation of Liability Act, a maritime law that allows a vessel owner to limit liability to the value of the vessel and its freight. The law dates back to the mid 1800s when it was passed to protect U.S. vessel owners, eliminating some risk in crisis situations and aiding competition with foreign ships. Guy Cantwell, a spokesman for Transocean, said the company filed this request on instruction from its insurers and to preserve its insurance.

Onalaska men injured in Florida boating accident

Two Onalaska men and one other person are seriously injured in a weekend boating accident in Florida. 35-year-old Jason Baldner of Onalaska and 36-year-old Jason Williams, an Onalaska native currently living in Cape Coral, Florida, were aboard a 37-foot boat when it slammed into a seawall at a high rate of speed, went airborne and landed in a vacant lot. Baldner, Williams and another man, 31-year-old Eric Terpsma of Cape Coral, were taken to the hospital. Baldner's dad says his son is in a coma. A Florida hospital says Williams and the third man are both in serious condition. Television station WINK in Fort Myers says authorities suspect alcohol to be a factor in the accident, but the accident is still being investigated. Friends say Baldner and Williams are avid boaters. Both men were also past members of the River City Water Ski Team.

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.

Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Over Gulf Oil Rig Explosion, Fire

HOUSTON, May 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorneys with the Houston trial law firm Arnold & Itkin LLP today filed a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of the family of Aaron Dale Burkeen, one of 11 men still missing after the recent oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. A resident of Philadelphia, Miss., Mr. Burkeen worked as a crane operator on the Deepwater Horizon, a massive oil rig owned by Swiss-based Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) and operated by UK-based BP PLC (NYSE: BP). On April 20, Mr. Burkeen was operating the crane on deck before the first explosion rocked the rig. His responsibilities included getting other crew members to safety. He is believed to have been tragically killed in the second blast. The family of Mr. Burkeen, including his wife and two children, are represented by Houston maritime attorneys Kurt Arnold and Jason Itkin of Arnold & Itkin, along with Mississippi attorney Jay M. Kilpatrick, a shareholder in Young Williams P.A. According to the attorneys, the Deepwater Horizon was unseaworthy, and the defendants were negligent in failing to properly maintain the rig and failing to meet federal safety standards.

Owner of sunken oil rig defends Transocean's safety record

The chief executive of Transocean Ltd., whose drilling rig exploded last month in the Gulf of Mexico and triggered the largest oil spill in North American history, on Thursday defended the company's safety policies. Steven Newman, Transocean's president and chief executive, told industry analysts during a conference call on the company's quarterly earnings that it would be "premature'' and "inappropriate'' to speculate on what caused the April 20 blast that sank the $600 million rig and left 11 crew members missing and presumed dead. Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/06/1616780/owner-of-sunken-oil-rig-defends.html#ixzz0nBOQGarf