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Maritime Injury Law Blog

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Injured Fishermen Entitled to Punitive Damages in Cases of Unseaworthiness

In a precedent-setting case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled that injured fishermen and seamen are indeed entitled to punitive damages under maritime law unseaworthiness guidelines. In reaching this decision in the case of Batterton v. Dutra Group, the Ninth Circuit Court referenced the outcome…

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E-Stops Reduce Winch Accidents and Entanglements

One of the most dangerous pieces of equipment on any fishing vessel is the winch; drum winch, capstan and/or cathead. So many accidents and fatalities have been caused by winch entanglements, that in 2012 the US Coast Guard teamed up with NIOSH after the tragic death of a 15-year-old boy.…

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Restricting Commercial Fishing in the Arctic Ocean

In what is being called an historic agreement, countries have joined forces and agreed to a moratorium on commercial fishing within the unregulated Arctic Ocean. Five countries with Arctic shorelines, the United States, Canada, Russia, Norway, and Denmark (representing Greenland), have come to an agreement with Iceland, China, Japan, South…

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Vessel Stability Reports and Safety

The overall safety of the commercial fishing industry is becoming safer every year. Those are the findings in a report issued by NIOSH in July of 2017. However, experts agree that an area that needs improvement concerns outdated stability reports. The US Coast Guard requires all fishing and crabbing vessels…

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Gangways, Boarding, and Disembarking Injuries

We have all heard that working in the commercial fishing industry is the most dangerous type of work in the nation. Commercial fishing has long topped the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ list of jobs with the most injuries and fatalities. However, many accidents happen before boats leave the dock or…

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Federal Agencies Respond to Oil Rig Platform Explosion in Louisiana

One person is missing and 7 others have been injured in an oil rig platform explosion on Lake Pontchartrain near Kenner, Louisiana. Locals reported an explosion that sounded like a “sonic boom” at approximately 7:20 p.m. on October 15th. Sector New Orleans was alerted and launched a Coast Guard Station New…

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Google and Rolls-Royce Partner to Build Autonomous Vessels

At the Google Cloud Summit in Stockholm, Sweden, Rolls-Royce announced that it will be applying Google’s Cloud Machine Learning Engine to power autonomous ships. The technology will be used to detect, identify, and track surface objects that vessels encounter while at sea to make the maritime industry safer and more…

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