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 However, experts agree that an area that needs improvement concerns outdated stability reports.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…
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…
Astoria is set to receive two new lifesaving Sentinel-class cutters. One has already been deployed in Ketchikan, the USCGC John McCormick. These are part of a Coast Guard plan to commission 58 new Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutters, replacing aging Island-class cutters. The new cutters are 154 ft. long (compared to…
On March 9, 2017, in a landmark case handled by Stacey and Jacobsen, PLLC, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled unanimously that punitive damages may be awarded to injured fishermen and seamen when the case involves a general maritime unseaworthiness claim. Where an employer recklessly provides a vessel or equipment…
Allan Tabingo was injured at sea due to defective machinery on his employer’s fishing vessel. A hydraulic lever controlling a fish hatch had been defective for two years. When the hatch operator tried to activate the hydraulic lever to stop the hatch from closing, the handle on the lever popped…
Two weeks of Coast Guard hearings and testimonies this past month are slowly revealing the mystery behind the July 26th sinking of the Alaska JURIS that forced 46 crewmembers to abandon ship in the Bering Sea. Chief Engineer aboard the JURIS, Eddie Hernandez, was a key witness for Coast Guard…
Hank William Hoskins Sr. of Whatcom County died on October 26, 2016, after a scuba diving accident at Gooseberry Point near Sucia Island. According to Bellingham Fire Department Assistant Chief Bill Hewett, the diver’s oxygen supply was cut off due to an apparent equipment malfunction at approximately 4 p.m. It…
Students and chaperones from Stevens Middle School in Port Angeles, Washington were rescued from Camp David Jr. on Crescent Lake by the U.S. Coast Guard on Friday, October 14th. According to the Coast Guard, Sector Puget Sound received a call at approximately 3:45 p.m. reporting that 40 kids and 6…
Two sailors arrived in Kodiak on Wednesday, September 28th, 2016 seeking medical treatment due to the sinking of the sailboat Rafiki. The men were sailing 230 miles south of Cold Bay, in 7 mph winds and 6-foot seas, when the engine compartment began to fill with water. They contacted Coast…
The Oregon State Department of Environmental Quality and the US Coast Guard responded to an 82-foot sunken tug at 8:49pm on the evening of Sunday, September 25th. The Earnest, a wooden-hulled vessel, sank on the Columbia River in Goble, OR. The incident was reported via the National Response Center. Divers…