The crew of the LUCY M, a 51-foot wooden fishing boat, radioed the Coast Guard they were taking on water and needed help. Two motor life boat crews were dispatched to assist the vessel. Initially, the crew tried to beach the vessel on a shoal, but the task proved too…
Under the Jones Act, the evidentiary proof a seaman needs to present to establish a causal connection between his employer’s negligence and his injury is very slight. A Louisiana Appellate Court has reaffirmed this standard in Bancroft v. Mitchell Offshore Marine, 2010 WL 198219 (2010 La. App. 3 Cir.). The…
A 29-foot charter boat carrying seven people reportedly collided with a pier in fog Saturday and sank. The passengers and crew were able to don life vests prior to abandoning the sinking vessel. Six persons were rescued from the water by a nearby vessel who heard their calls for help.…
The 40-foot fishing vessel WESTERN SKIES radioed the Coast Guard that they were taking on water and needed help on Saturday. The Coast Guard sent a helicopter and two motor life boats to the scene which delivered three dewatering pumps to the stricken vessel. With the aid of the Coast…
A 648-foot container ship, the PACIFIC FLORES, has run aground in the Columbia River near Kalama, Washington. The ship reportedly ran aground on its port bow after losing steering. Two tug boats are on the scene and have been able to refloat the vessel that is carrying 600 tons of…
The Coast Guard has airlifted an injured crewman from a Lake Charles Pilot boat approximately 10 miles south of Sabine Pass. The crewman had fallen overboard from the offshore supply vessel, Miss Mia, and had been rescued by the pilot boat. The injured crewman was airlifted by a Coast Guard…
High Seas and winds caused a tow line to snap on a 330-foot barge being towed ten miles west of the entrance to the Columbia River Bar. The tug boat MIKI HANA called the Coast Guard to report it had lost control of the barge which was carrying 700,000 pounds…
Yesterday, Coastal Villages Region Fund, in a deal with fishing giant American Seafoods, has acquired the 341-foot Alaska pollock factory trawler and three Alaska freezer longliners, the LILLI ANN, NORTH CAPE, and DEEP PACIFIC. In exchange for the vessels and their quota shares, Coastal Villages Region Fund will give up…
Saturday, the ANDREW J. BARBERI, a Staten Island Ferry, slammed into a docking pier injuring up to 40 passengers. The accident is blamed on mechanical failure, and there is no indication that drug or alcohol was involved in the accident. The vessel was carrying 250 passengers at the time of…
Late Friday night three tribal fishermen died when their small fishing vessel capsized on the Columbia River near Wisham, Washington. One man survived the accident. The fishermen were part of the Yakima tribe and were participating in a commercial gill netting season for spring run Chinook salmon. The surviving fisherman…