Articles Posted in Injury at Sea

Early on November 30, Clint Owens, 41, suffered a head injury aboard Beaufort, N.C.-based F/V SEA ANGELS when part of the rigging equipment struck him. The crew of SEA ANGELS contacted the Coast Guard around 7:00 a.m., as Mr. Owens’ symptoms included short-term memory loss, severe neck pain, jaw injury, and a laceration.

This happened near Ormond Beach, Florida, which is just north of Daytona Beach. The Coast Guard and EMTs quickly arrived in a response boat, immobilized Mr. Owens, and transported him to shore where a helicopter waited to take him to the hospital. His current condition hasn’t been released.

The Coast Guard praised the SEA ANGELS crew for their use of the VHS marine radio. Using a VHS marine radio is more reliable than using a cell phone in these kinds of situations because they broadcast emergency calls to anyone listening, thus increasing the possible number of responses.

Injuries at sea are often caused by equipment that fails under normal use. Lines snap. Crane parts fail. Deck boards break. Ordinarily, when those items of equipment are produced or inspected immediately following an injury, then the case can be relatively straightforward. But, when there is a passage of time, broken equipment is lost or thrown away. Memories fade – sometimes conveniently fade. There is no question that the lawyer’s job is much easier – and the case much stronger – when the lawyer can get to the scene of the injury soon after it happens and the broken equipment can be preserved.

What happens when the equipment is thrown away? What happens when the injury scene is purposefully altered? There is a rule of law regarding “spoliation” of evidence.

Spoliation of evidence is generally defined as either willfully or negligently destroying or loosing documents or objects that could be used during legal proceedings. Washington State defines spoliation as the “intentional destruction of evidence.” Inherent in this is the assumption that the party which destroyed the evidence, even if the destruction was negligent and not intentional, knew or should have known the evidence would be legally pertinent. A lack of evidence may also beg the question: Did the evidence exist in the first place?
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A nineteen year old crewman has reportedly been seriously injured while working on the deck of the 38-foot fishing vessel KITTIWAKE. The accident happened on August 18th when a line under tension snapped, striking Daniel Cornelius in the head, causing facial injuries and knocking him unconscious. The United States Coast Guard airlifted Cornelius from the vessel. He was transported to Kodiak Island for emergency medical treatment and evaluation.
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Coast Guard Sector Anchorage watchstanders were notified that a crewman aboard the 32-foot fishing vessel MISS MARIA was suffering from a severely broken forearm, Friday, July 1.

The Coast Guard deployed a helicopter crew to the scene, and safely hoisted the 56-year-old fisherman and transferred him to awaiting emergency medical services in Kodiak. It was determined that the fisherman suffered a double compound fracture to his right forearm. Published reports do not indicate the cause of his injury. The fisherman was taken to Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center in reportedly stable condition.

Watchstanders from Coast Guard District Seventeen received notification Thursday, July 7, that Anthony Imas, 50, was injured and required medical assistance. Imas was reportedly suffering from severe back pain after falling aboard the 50-foot fishing vessel HEIDI LINEA.

The Coast Guard directed the launch of a helicopter rescue crew, which arrived on the scene and safely hoisted Imas off the vessel. Coast Guard reports indicate that Imas was in stable condition as of 9:45 Thursday night. Emergency medical services were waiting for Imas’ arrival in Kodiak, where he was taken to Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center for further care.

An engineer aboard the tug BARBARA McALLISTER injured his leg and became stuck in the vessel’s engine room. The tug was working the Hudson River near Kingston N.Y. when the accident happened. With the aid of the United States Coast Guard and local emergency services, the crewman was freed and transported for emergency medical services. The cause of the accident is unknown at this time and is under investigation.

Tom Webster, a 26-year old deckhand aboard the fishing vessel CAPE RELIANT, has been medevaced to a hospital in Anchorage for treatment of head injuries. Webster was reportedly injured around 4:20 p.m. on Tuesday when the 58-foot fishing vessel he was working on was approximately 55 miles northeast of Dutch Harbor, Alaska. The Coast Guard Cutter ALEX HALEY was just ten miles away from the CAPE RELIANT when it initially received the call for medical help. They dispatched medical corpsmen and an EMT to help Webster and then called for evacuation by helicopter. The injured crewman was taken to Dutch Harbor, where he was subsequently transferred via Guardian flight service to Anchorage. The CAPE RELIANT is home ported in Petersburg, Alaska. The facts and circumstances surrounding Webster’s injury are unknown.

Early Friday a fish processor suffered a serious hand injury while working aboard the fish processing vessel PACIFIC GLACIER. The crewman was medivaced from the vessel by a Coast Guard Helicopter. The 46-year old crewman, Mamadou Konato, was working 40 miles southwest of Coos Bay aboard the 276-foot PACIFIC GLACIER when the accident occurred. Under Federal Safety Regulations, the Coast Guard is charged with the duty to investigate all serious accidents involving crewmen working aboard fishing vessels.
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Coast Guard aircrews based in Kodiak, Alaska, flew 1,800 miles to conduct a successful medical evacuation of Aung Bo Bo Htay, an injured oiler on the BK CHAMP, a 580-foot South Korean bulk carrier. Htay, a Burmese national, seriously injured his hand in the vessel’s engine room. The Coast Guard District 17 command center received a phone call from the BK CHAMP reporting Htay’s injury and requesting a medevac.

The Coast Guard launched two Kodiak-based helicopters, which were forced to rest overnight in Dutch Harbor because of the great distance between Kodiak and Adak. One of the helicopters successfully gathered Htay and transferred him to emergency medical services in Adak; soon after he was transported to Anchorage for further treatment.

Though Htay suffered a serious hand injury as a result of the accident in the engine room, he is in good health otherwise. The lawyers at Beard Stacey & Jacobsen, PLLC have handled various maritime personal injury cases of all sorts, including hand injuries very similar to Htay’s in this article. If you have a question about this article or any maritime injury, feel free to call one of the lawyers at Beard Stacey & Jacobsen, PLLC.

A crewman suffered a head injury on Tuesday and was airlifted from a fishing vessel 50 miles off the Oregon Coast. The cause of the accident is unknown at this time. Two Coast Guard helicopters responded to the emergency. The crewman was taken to North Bend for treatment. Commercial fishermen working in Oregon and Washington continue to suffer injuries at an alarming rate. Every vessel owner owes their crewmen a safe place to work and a seaworthy vessel. In cases of serious injuries, crewmen must be evacuated for treatment as soon as possible. This is particularly true in head injury cases, where the extent of crewmen’s injuries may not be readily apparent, and complications can have delayed onset.