A crane operator was fortunate to escape without serious injuries in an accident on a barge on Muskegon Lake, Michigan.  The crane tipped over, trapping the operator underneath.  The 38-year-old operator had been using the crane for lifting when it suddenly tipped over.  A steel beam crashed through the cabin of the crane, trapping the operator ...

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Commercial shipping came to a standstill on the Mississippi River on Tuesday after a barge struck an auxiliary lock’s gate near Granite City, Ill. The barge jam, at one of the river’s busiest points, could last into the week, the Army Corps of Engineers said. Corps crews were determining how the damaged auxiliary lock would be fixed, and a spok...

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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited a shipbuilder for safety violations that contributed to the death of one worker last August. The company Jeffboat LLC is one of the country's largest inland ship builders. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration launched inspections of the company's barge building facilities,...

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Before the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, seamen were subject to ill treatment, including abuse and atrocious working conditions. They had no legal protection against their employers, and injuries, illness or death at sea were just considered occupational hazards. Part of that 1920 law, the Jones Act, changed those circumstances, giving seamen sp...

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A local barge company has been cited for 40 safety violations following an April flash fire that left two employees dead at its Freeport facility. The Occupational Health and Safety Administration cited Texas Barge & Boat Inc. with one willful and 39 serious violations, as well as penalties of about $220,000, after inspectors investigated the i...

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A fire on a pair of Mobile River barges that sparked explosions and left three workers injured has been put out, according to the U.S. Coast Guard on Thursday. The workers, who were getting the barges ready for reloading at the time of the initial explosion on Wednesday night, sustained severe burn injuries, Mobile fire officials said. The work...

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Offshore safety regulators in the UK are concerned about deteriorating equipment on oil rig in the North Sea after a leak from a Shell pipeline just off Aberdeen.  According to documents obtained by an offshore workers union, the Health and Safety Executive is concerned about the safety of these rigs. The Health and Safety Executive has sent no...

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Royal Dutch Shell announced today after a series of delays and setbacks that it was holding off until next year in its efforts to drill into oil and gas deposits in the Arctic offshore. In the latest delay, the company’s high-tech dome, which is designed to contain oil should an underwater spill happen, was damaged during a test. Shell said it ...

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Australian unions have raised an outcry over the treatment of a large group of crewmembers on board two vessels, who are reportedly severely ill, and are being forced by their employers to continue working. The Australian Manufacturers Workers Union is calling attention towards the poor working conditions and ill-treatment of workers on the 2 v...

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A longshore worker who filed a claim under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act claiming negligence has had his claim rejected due to insufficient evidence. The man, who worked for a stevedoring company, alleged that he suffered injuries when he fell from a rope ladder on a vessel.  According to his claim, as he was going down the...

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A maritime accident involving two barges on the Mississippi River led to an oil spill, and caused a portion of the river to be closed down recently. The accident occurred on the Mississippi River about 50 miles from New Orleans. The accident involved a construction barge that was being towed by the tugboat Alydar and the tank barge, which was b...

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A pipeline fire was finally extinguished after burning in a Louisiana bayou since Tuesday, the U.S. Coast Guard said Friday. One man was critically burned and three others received minor injuries in the blaze, which began when a tug pushing a barge struck the gas pipeline. While the fire was out, the Coast Guard said minimal flaring was continu...

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Police have managed to identify the man who was killed in a barge accident in New Jersey recently. The man was killed when he was pinned under a barge under Route 35 on the Sayreville side of the Morgan Bridge. The deceased was a US Marine veteran.  There are few details about how this accident occurred. Some reports have indicated that the man...

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A woman on a towboat suffered serious injuries last week when part of her clothing got snagged in engine room equipment. The accident occurred on a towboat on the Missouri River. The 47-year-old woman was apparently working in the engine room on a barge when part of her shirt got caught in the drive shaft of the engine room's machinery. The wom...

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Tug boat pilot, Matthew Devlin, pled guilty to an involuntary manslaughter charge on Monday, August 1, 2011.  Two tourists died from the accident on July 7, 2010, when a barge crashed into a duck boat that was stalled in the Delaware River.  The operator did not receive notice that the duck boat was stopped in his path because he had turned his ...

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The pilot at the helm of a tugboat-barge formation that crashed into a Ride-the-Ducks amphibious tourist boat in the Delaware River last year killing two Hungarian tourists, has been sentenced to one year in prison. An investigation report by the National Transportation Safety Board had found that the pilot, Matthew Devlin had been distracted b...

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A tugboat pilot convicted in the July 2010 crash of a barge and tour boat that left two Hungarian tourists dead said in a deposition that the collision could have been avoided if he had been at his post. Matt Devlin, who is serving a one-year sentence for the maritime equivalent of involuntary manslaughter, was on a cellphone for a family emerg...

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