Maritime Injury Law Blog

On December 21, 2009, a 740 foot Indian flagged freighter, SURYAVIR, has lost power and is battling high winds and seas 540 miles southwest of Alaska’s Adak Island. The vessel has 28 crewmen on board and is currently handling 20-30 foot seas and 50 mile an hour winds. There are no current plans to abandon the ship which has been in continuos contact with the United States Coast Guard. The Maersk ALTAIR is in route to the disabled vessel to provide assistance if necessary, a commercial tug has also been dispatched and is scheduled to reach the vessel on Tuesday. The SURYVAIR was in route from China to the Columbia river and is reported to be carrying no cargo.

A 33-foot-long Coast Guard vessel crashed into a 24-foot recreational vessel killing an 8-year-old child and seriously injuring five others. The accident happened in San Diego Bay during the annual Parade of Lights. Weather conditions were fair and clear, and the cause of the accident is under investigation. The Coast Guard vessel was reportedly responding to a grounded vessel.

A 20 year old crab fisherman has been reported as lost overboard from the F/V VICIOUS FISHER 20 miles west of La Push, Washington. The crewman was wearing rain gear and no life jacket or flotation device. The Coast Guard is conducting a search for the missing fisherman. The VICIOUS FISHER is home ported in Bellingham, Washington.

This is the second crab fisherman lost overboard in Washington in three weeks. In the first week of December, a crewman was lost from the F/V BALLAD. The commercial crab fishery in Washington and Oregon remains the most deadly fishery on the west coast. Few safety regulations apply to uninspected commercial fishing vessels involved in the Washington and Oregon crab fisheries.

The families of crewmen lost in fishing accidents have rights under Federal Maritime laws including the Jones Act and the Death On the High Seas Act.

The U.S. Coast Guard issued a notice setting the minimum random drug testing rate for covered crewmembers on U.S. vessels for the year 2010 at 50%. Employees involved in serious marine incidents involving injuries, loss of life, collisions, sinkings, etc. must also be tested for drug and alcohol within two hours of the accident

Under 46 CFR 16.230, the Coast Guard requires marine employers to establish random drug testing programs for covered crewmembers on inspected and uninspected vessels.

Every marine employer is required by 46 CFR 16.500 to collect and maintain a record of drug testing program data for each calendar year, and submit this data by 15 March of the following year to the Coast Guard in an annual MIS report. Marine employers may either submit their own MIS reports or have a consortium or other employer representative submit the data in a consolidated MIS report.

The purpose of setting a minimum random drug testing rate is to assist the Coast Guard in analyzing its current approach for deterring and detecting illegal drug abuse in the maritime industry. The testing rate for calendar year 2010 is 50 percent.

The Coast Guard may lower this rate if, for two consecutive years, the drug test positive rate is less than 1.0 percent, in accordance with 46 CFR part 16.230(f)(2).

Since 2008 MIS data indicates that the positive rate is greater than one percent industry wide (1.53 percent), the Coast Guard announces that the minimum random drug testing rate will continue at 50 percent of covered employees for the period of January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2010 in accordance with 46 CFR 16.230(e).

Each year, the Coast Guard will publish a notice reporting the results of random drug testing for the previous calendar year's MIS data and the minimum annual percentage rate for random drug testing for the next calendar year.

The 32 foot limit on salmon drift boats in Bristol Bay will stay in place. The Alaska Board of Fisheries failed to pass a proposal to repeal the 32 foot limit during its December, 2009 meeting in Anchorage. The board vote on the proposal was deadlocked at 3-3 with one board member abstaining. Supporters advocating the increase in the length argued that larger vessels would permit flooded fish holds and chilling systems to be installed thereby increasing a higher quality product. Alaska permit holders generally opposed the proposal and thought that a larger boat base might come to dominate the fishery. A similar proposal to eliminate the 32 foot restriction was rejected in 2006.

On Wednesday, a small crab fishing vessel with four people on board began taking on water about one mile south of Crescent City Harbor. The Coast Guard responded to the Mayday by dispatching a 47 foot motor life boat, and an MH Dolphin Helicopter from Humbolt Bay. The vessel was stabilized and towed to safety. There were no reported injuries. The flooding of the vessel reportedly occurred through a defect in the vessel’s salt water intake.

Improper maintenance and repairs of vessels can quickly lead to a disaster at sea. Vessels should be equipped with adequate high water alarms and bilge pumps. All vessels and their crews must be trained in abandon ship and survival training before departing port. The Coast Guard provides dockside safety exams for fishing vessels free of charge. These dockside exams for uninspected vessels focus on safety equipments such as epirbs, survival suits, and life rafts.

The Government Accounting Office has upheld an appeal of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s, ( NOAA), decision to relocate its home port from Seattle to Newport. The decision to appeal the move was made by the Port of Bellingham who claimed that NOAA did not consider the fact that the Newport location was within the 100 year flood plain of the Yaquina River and therefore violated Federal rules for construction of new facilities.

The 20 year lease at stake is for the home port of four NOAA research ships that begins in 2011 and is worth in excess of $40 million dollars. The NOAA home port involves an estimated 78 shoreside employees and up to 178 researchers aboard the vessel. However, the home port location would also support and employ numerous related private industries. The NOAA center had been previously located in Seattle for the past sixty years.

NOAA has indicated that they will work with Government Accounting Office to alleviate their concerns over the Newport location. Don Mann, manager of the Port of Newport, has indicated that work is continuing ahead on the project and that the Port has hired various contractors and engineers to start work on the new Newport facility. Newport’s rent bid of $2.5 million for the NOAA site was substantially less than the Port of Bellingham’s $4 million dollar per year bid.

Working as a crewman aboard a ship, tug, barge or fishing vessel, constantly exposes crewman to the risk of injuries to their hands, feet, arms and legs. Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) is a frequent complication of those hand, feet, arm, and leg injuries that requires early diagnosis and treatment to maximize recovery. There is no prevention for CRPS and early diagnosis and treatment is key to slowing the progression of what may develop into a chronic pain that renders a maritime worker disabled.

CRPS is a chronic pain condition. It is a neurological disorder that affects the central and peripheral nervous systems. Statics show that CRPS may develop in 1 to15 percent of injuries to the peripheral nerves and in 10 to 30 percent of injuries involving fractures. Although the exact physiological mechanism of CRPS is still under investigation, CRPS is clearly related to trauma. Even a minor injury can trigger Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.

CRPS, which is also referred to as reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD), can be severely disabling, causing constant intense burning pain in one or more extremities. Pain and swelling in the affected limb may spread. CRPS victims have cold sensitivity and develop stiff muscles and joints that may result in contractions and muscle wasting. In the late stages of CRPS, depression and mood changes are frequently present, bone scans may show diffuse demineralization of the bones and osteoporosis in the affected hand, foot, arm, or leg.

Treatments for CRPS include injections and nerve blocks that numb the affected nerves or pain fibers. Internal pain pumps may be prescribed that deliver medications directly into the spinal cord. Spinal cord simulators may also be utilized along with bio feed back as part of the patient’s therapy. In severe and chronic cases, surgery sympathectomy may be performed to attempt to cut the nerves to the affected area.

Early medical literature suggested that patients with CRPS had a predisposing personality factor. However, current medical literature disproves that CRPS requires a preexisting personality disorder, and instead supports that the severity of pain and disability associated with CRPS can lead to depression and anxiety disorders.

Injured seamen and fishermen who have suffered injuries to their hands, feet, arms or legs should be carefully watched for potential signs of development of CRPS. If following a traumatic injury, you develop symptoms of constant burning pain in an arm, leg, hand or foot, contact your doctor for follow up and carefully explain your symptoms. CRPS can develop as a complication of surgery for broken bones and is a risk factor of carpel tunnel releases.

The maritime injury lawyers at Beard Stacey & Jacobsen have handled Jones Act injury claims for injured seaman suffering from CRPS. Injuries involving CRPS frequently leave an injured fisherman or seaman unable to return to their prior employment. Getting seaman expert medical care for CRPS injuries is vital. Pain clinic treatment is frequently needed and the seaman’s employer in almost all cases is obligated to pay for all the injured seaman’s reasonable and necessary medical bills. If the underlying injury that caused the CRPS to develop was the result of negligence or unseaworthiness, the seaman may be entitled to damages for past and future pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, disability, lost wages, lost wage earning capacity, future medical expenses and more. If you have questions about your rights compensation for a maritime injury involving CRPS contact Beard Stacey & Jacobsen for a free initial consultation.

The crewman who was lost overboard the crab fishing boat BALLAD has been identified as Steve Neva of Ilwaco, Washington. Clatsop County recovery divers found Neva’s body caught in crab gear and lines wrapped in the propellor shaft. Evidence indicates that he was trapped beneath vessel. There was no indication that Neva had been injured by the vessel’s propeller.

Chinook, Washington crab fisherman David Lethin has ownership interest in the BALLAD. Lethin owns multiple other vessels including the ALEUTIAN BALLAD which is now be utilized in the Alaska trade to show tourists a working crab boat. Lethin’s vessels have also been highlighed in the Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch television show.

A 32 years old crewman was lost overboard and drown Wednesday while working on the crab boat BALLAD. The accident happened 10 miles from the Columbia River Entrance. The man was reported to be wearing only rain gear and no flotation work vest at the time of the accident.

The BALLAD is home ported in Chinook, Washington and is a 56 foot crab fishing vessel. Coast Guard records indicate the vessel is owned by Ballad Inc. of Chinook, Washington. The crew of the BALLAD issued a may day call at 1:00 p.m. reporting the man overboard. Helicopter crews from North Bend and Astoria responded to the call and a motor life boat crew from Cape Disappointment in Ilwaco was also dispatched to the search for the crewman. A dive team from Clatsop County was able to recover the crewman’s body whose identity is being withheld pending notification of family.

Tragically, this death again highlights the extreme dangers of the Washington and Oregon State Dungeness crab fisheries. Resent studies released by the National Transportation and Safety Board showed that Dungeness crab fisherman in Washington and Oregon were ten times more likely to die while working than other commercial fisherman. The Coast Guard had implemented operation Safe Crab in an attempt educate fisherman on common safety concerns. Owners of some crab boats in the Ilwaco and Chinook areas require all crewman to wear a floatation type work vest while working on deck.

Families of fisherman who are lost at sea have claims for compensation under Federal Maritime law. Those laws are very complex, particularly where the case involves a death on the high seas. Beard Stacey & Jacobean is one of the nations most experienced maritime law firms in representing families in claims for wrongful death.