-
Guilty Plea in Barge Accident Case
by Matthew D. Shaffer on August 17, 2011
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 ...
-
Coast Guard Proposes New Safety Management System
by Matthew D. Shaffer on August 18, 2011
The Coast Guard published plans to implement a new inspection process for towing vessels last week. In the 76th volume of the Federal Register released on August 11, the Coast Guard posted their proposed rules. They plan to finalize the regulations in four public meetings this fall. The new system will have two options for obtaining safety ce...
-
NTSB: Pilot Fatigue Problem In Sabine-Neches Ship Channel Wreck
by Dennis M. McElwee on September 29, 2011
The pilot who was navigating an 810-foot tanker through the Sabine-Neches Ship Channel in 2010 was tired and suffering from a sleep disorder, while the second pilot was reading a newspaper, according to a National Transportation Safety Board report. Federal investigators said Tuesday that these factors, in conjunction with lax regulations, cont...
-
What Is The Jones Act And Who Can Claim For Injuries Under It
by Dennis M. McElwee on October 13, 2011
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...
-
Man in California Salon Shooting is Former Maritime Worker with PTSD
by Dennis M. McElwee on November 14, 2011
The man involved in a deadly shooting at a beauty salon in California which killed 8 people, reportedly suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder brought on by a maritime accident he had been involved in. The man used to be a maritime worker, and had worked on tugboats, barges and fishing vessels. In 2007, he was severely injured in an accid...
-
Pilot in Pennsylvania Tugboat-Tourist Boat Accident Sentenced to One Year in Prison
by Matthew D. Shaffer on January 10, 2012
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...
-
Woman Suffers Serious Injuries in Towboat Accident on Missouri River
by Dennis M. McElwee on January 11, 2012
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...
-
Tugboat Pilot Says He Could Have Avoided Crash
by Matthew D. Shaffer on May 14, 2012
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...
