Articles Posted in Injury at Sea

On Saturday, June 25, The U.S. Coast Guard received word of an incident aboard the 79-foot fishing vessel, PACIFIC STAR. A medevac flight by a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter was sent to the vessel traveling about 74 miles southeast of Kodiak, Alaska.

The call for assistance by the operator of PACIFIC STAR reached Coast Guard Sector Anchorage at approximately 11:03 a.m. A deckhand had been struck in the head by deck rigging and, as recommended by the duty flight surgeon, required medical attention.

The helicopter arrived at the scene just before 1 p.m. Saturday. According to Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer 1st Class Kelly Parker, the Jayhawk crew was able to lift the injured man on board, despite weather conditions that included 6-foot seas and 29-mph winds.

Crew from the 285′ Factory Trawler AMERICAN TRIUMPH called the Coast Guard on February 12 to report that a 36-year old man had two of his fingers severed by a steel door. A Coast Guard Jayhawk helicopter crew in Cold Bay flew approximately 92 miles north to the trawler, safely medevaced the man, and flew him back to Cold Bay for emergency medical services.

AMERICAN TRIUMPH is owned by American Seafoods Company. According to the company’s website, the trawler is currently catching and processing pollack, hake, and sole.

A Coast Guard Jayhawk helicopter medevaced an injured crewman from the bulk carrier MYKONOS SEAS located approximately 75 miles southeast of Cold Bay, AK on November 16, 2014. According to the 17th District Coast Guard Command Center, they received a call from the carrier’s crew requesting medical help for the injured crewmember. The duty flight surgeon recommended a medevac, and the helicopter crew flew out of Cold Bay for the rescue mission. They flew 75 miles to the ship, hoisted the crewmember aboard the helicopter while grappling with 11 mph winds and 3′ seas, and flew back to Cold Bay where the crewman received medical care. He ultimately was flown to Anchorage for additional medical assistance.

75 miles southeast of the tip of Alaska is in the far reaches of the Bering Sea. We are fortunate that the Coast Guard is equipped with operating locations and equipment that can quickly respond to emergencies near and far. Beard Stacey & Jacobsen PLLC is one of the most experienced law firms in the country in handling crew member injuries aboard American ships in the Bering Sea. For more information, view our firm website and find Maritime Injury Claims.

An Alaska crab fisherman aboard the F/ V ICY MIST has been medivaced for medical treatment after a crab pot fell on him Sunday. The crew was reportedly loading crab pot gear 150 miles southeast of Sand Point, Alaska, when the accident happened. A Coast Guard helicopter hoisted the crewman from the vessel and transported him to Cold Bay. The extent of the crewman’s injuries is unknown.

Working as an Alaska crab fisherman remains one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. Fishermen typically work with crab pots that weigh 700 to 800 pounds, sometimes working in seas 20 feet high or more. If proper safety precautions are not followed in landing the pots, they can swing out of control injuring crewmen. Once aboard the vessel, the crab pots must be properly secured and tied down. Fishing vessel owners owe a duty to have their crew properly trained in safety procedures and provide their crewmen with a safe place to work. Because of the dangers associated with this type of work, crab boats must be kept seaworthy at all times to prevent injuries to the crew.

Beard Stacey & Jacobsen PLLC is one of the most experienced law firms in the country in handling crewmen injuries aboard crab boats. Crewmen injured while working in the Bering Sea are covered by the Jones Act. The general maritime law also provides that the employer pay all of a seaman’s medical bills, and provide a daily living expense while the seaman is recovering from his injuries. Fishermen who are injured as a result of negligence may be entitled to compensation for pain and suffering, past and future lost wages, loss of earning capacity, and losses associated with their enjoyment of life.

According to reports, on June 10, about 90 miles south of Seward, Alaska, a 28-year-old crewman aboard OPTIMUS suffered a serious laceration from a fish hook, serious enough that the Coast Guard flight surgeon recommended a four-hour window for the medevac via Coast Guard helicopter to Anchorage for treatment. The medevac was completed in 2-1/2 hours.

OPTIMUS is 58 feet long and hails out of Sitka. Weather at the time was 10mph hour winds and four-foot seas.

This evening at around 7:13, the crew of SHIRLEY R requested a Coast Guard medevac for one of their men, who had sustained a head injury. The Coast Guard arrived at the scene, about 30 miles west of Grays Harbor, with a motor lifeboat and a Jayhawk helicopter, at about 8:30. The Jayhawk crew hoisted the injured man and set off to Hoquiam, where an EMS team took over. According to the report, the man was then taken in stable condition by ambulance to Grays Harbor Community Hospital.