Articles Posted in Injury at Sea

A Good Samaritan vessel rushed to the aid of a scallop vessel whose engine room had caught fire outside Barnegat early Sunday morning. The troubled vessel, an 80-foot vessel named The Captain OJ Riggs, was harvesting scallops when an engine fire caused all three onboard to deploy a life raft. One of the crew broadcasted a mayday call just before 3:25 a.m. Sunday. Luckily, a nearby vessel named Miss Peaches relayed the message to the United States Coast Guard before traveling to the vessel’s coordinates. The individuals onboard the Captain OJ Riggs were rescued and later transported to a Coast Guard Station Manasquan. No injuries were reported. The Captain OJ Riggs later split apart and sank around 11 a.m. that day.
The maritime lawyers at Beard Stacey Trueb and Jacobsen represent injured mariners throughout the nation in claims involving the Jones Act and General Maritime Law. For any questions regarding maritime law or injuries sustained while working aboard a vessel, contact us at 206.282.3100 or visit our website at atsealawyer.com.

The United States Coast Guard successfully medevaced a mariner whose finger was severely injured this past weekend. 50-year old John Engelbrecht from Bainbridge Island, Washington was working on a diesel engine when his right index finger got caught in one of the gears, crushing and partially severing the finger. Engelbrecht was working aboard the motor vessel Horizon Anchorage, a 678-foot freighter homeported in Philadelphia. Engelbrecht was medevaced by the Coast Guard to Juneau, where local emergency medical services were waiting to take the injured mariner to a hospital for further care.
The maritime lawyers at Beard Stacey Trueb and Jacobsen represent injured mariners throughout the nation in claims involving the Jones Act and General Maritime Law. For any questions regarding maritime law or injuries sustained while working aboard a vessel, contact us at 206.282.3100 or visit our website at atsealawyer.com.

The United States Coast Guard assisted five people on board a sinking 35-foot Berthum commercial fishing vessel 30 miles southeast of Port Aransas on Wednesday. A distress call came in at 4:18 p.m. that a vessel was taking on water and needed immediate assistance. The Coast Guard immediately dispatched a helicopter crew and 45-foot rescue boat to the scene. The helicopter crew arrived to find a Good Samaritan vessel assisting the crew bailing water overboard with buckets. The helicopter lowered a dewatering pump to the vessel, allowing it to remain afloat until the rescue boat arrived. Upon arriving at the scene, the Coast Guard rescue boat found a hole that was two inches in diameter in the floor of the engine room. The rescue crew patched up the vessel and escorted it back to port. No injuries were reported.
The maritime lawyers at Beard Stacey Trueb and Jacobsen represent injured mariners throughout the nation in claims involving the Jones Act and General Maritime Law. For any questions regarding maritime law or injuries sustained while working aboard a vessel, contact us at 206.282.3100 or visit our website at atsealawyer.com.

The United States Coast Guard and a Good Samaritan vessel responded to a distress call from a sinking ship three miles off the coast of Jacksonville on Friday. The distress call was made by the two fishermen aboard the Yvonne, a 66-foot fishing boat, at approximately 2:06 a.m. The Coast Guard was immediately dispatched where, with the help of the Good Samaritan vessel Shenandoah, both individuals aboard the vessel were safely rescued. The mariners aboard the Yvonne were transported to local medical personnel once they arrived back to land.
The maritime lawyers at Beard Stacey Trueb and Jacobsen represent injured mariners throughout the nation in claims involving the Jones Act and General Maritime Law. For any questions regarding maritime law or injuries sustained while working aboard a vessel, contact us at 206.282.3100 or visit our website at atsealawyer.com.

The United States Coast Guard rescued two Canadians from the Detroit River after the three-person kayak had capsized. The capsizing occurred approximately one mile from Belle Isle, Michigan around 6:15 Thursday July 16th. The Coast Guard arrived on the scene within minutes of receiving the distress call to find a Good Samaritan rescuing the third individual aboard the kayak. The Coast Guard boat crew brought the two remaining individuals onboard. The three were taken to a nearby marina before being transferred to emergency medical services. No injuries were reported. Luckily, all three were wearing life jackets.
The law office of Beard Stacey Trueb & Jacobsen, PLLC would like to urge all those on water, either for work or pleasure, to wear a life jacket. The maritime lawyers at Beard Stacey Trueb and Jacobsen represent injured mariners throughout the nation in claims involving the Jones Act and General Maritime Law. For any questions regarding maritime law or injuries sustained while working aboard a vessel, contact us at 206.282.3100 or visit our website at atsealawyer.com.

A Washington skipper has died resulting from injuries sustained aboard a fishing vessel last week. The vessel was fishing 15 miles west of Gray’s Harbor when the captain, 50-year-old Keenan Stearns of South Bend, Washington, became entangled in fishing gear. The crew was not able to free him. He was airlifted to a nearby hospital where he died from his injuries later that day. Stearns was the skipper for the 73-foot commercial fishing vessel called “Swell Rider.”
The maritime lawyers at Beard Stacey Trueb and Jacobsen represent injured mariners throughout the nation in claims involving the Jones Act and General Maritime Law. For any questions regarding maritime law or injuries sustained while working aboard a vessel, contact us at 206.282.3100 or visit our website at atsealawyer.com.

A Vermont woman is dead after falling out of her canoe while fishing on Sunday. 41-year-old Kelly Bruner fell out of her canoe while trying to retrieve a fishing pole she dropped in the water. Her friend in the boat, Ken Palmer, attempted to bring her back aboard the canoe by throwing her flotation devices and telling her to grab onto the oars, however was unsuccessful. Bruner then became tangled in the fishing line and was unable to get back into the canoe. She was found dead in the river later that day.
The maritime lawyers at Beard Stacey Trueb and Jacobsen represent injured mariners throughout the nation in claims involving the Jones Act and General Maritime Law. For any questions regarding maritime law or injuries sustained while working aboard a vessel, contact us at 206.282.3100 or visit our website at atsealawyer.com.

One boater was killed following an allision between a 23 foot pleasure vessel and the Jekyll Creek jetties around Brunswick, Georgia early Sunday morning. The United States Coast Guard responded to a distress call at 4:15 a.m. Sunday morning and helped rescue two of the boaters on board the vessel. A Good Samaritan in the area rescued a third boater who was clinging to the sinking vessel. The identities of the deceased and injured have not been released following proper notification of family members.
The maritime lawyers at Beard Stacey Trueb and Jacobsen represent injured mariners throughout the nation in claims involving the Jones Act and General Maritime Law. For any questions regarding maritime law or injuries sustained while working aboard a vessel, contact us at 206.282.3100 or visit our website at atsealawyer.com.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office reports that two men died and one injured when their vessel hit a bridge during high tide on Huntington Harbor. The Sheriff’s Office said that alcohol was a factor in the accident. The report claims that these three men needed to duck to avoid striking the bridge on the 12-foot inflatable Zodiac boat, however failed to do so. The two men who died were rendered unconscious from their collision and were thrown into the water where they drowned. The individual who survived also suffered head injuries. He was taken to UCI Medical Center and treated. Investigators found empty beer cans in the boat and later learned the three individuals had been drinking in a local bar before their boarded the boat.
The law office of Beard Stacey Trueb and Jacobsen would like to urge all professional and leisure boaters to avoid operating a vessel after consuming alcohol. The maritime lawyers at Beard Stacey Trueb and Jacobsen represent injured mariners throughout the nation in claims involving the Jones Act and General Maritime Law. For any questions regarding maritime law or injuries sustained while working aboard a vessel, contact us at 206.282.3100 or visit our website at atsealawyer.com.