Tanker Crewman Injures Hand in Watertight Door

The Coast Guard medevaced a crewmember from a tanker off of the California coast this week.  The master of the vessel British Oak, a 729-foot tanker vessel, requested a medevac after one of his crewmembers injured his hand in a water-tight door.  A Coast Guard flight surgeon recommended the evacuation in efforts to prevent further damage to the injured hand.

After picking up the injured crewmember in Monterey Bay, the Coast Guard took him to Stanford Medical Center for treatment.

The condition of the injured crewmember is unknown at this time.

Automatically power-operated watertight doors harm people every year due to weaknesses in design.  Maritime employers need to control the personal risk involved with operation of such doors.

Watertight door operating power can be up to 2 tons, which will cause severe injuries when a body part is squeezed in the door.  The maritime industry in general focuses more on the watertight integrity and less on the safety issues.

With the increased number of floating installations across the world, improvements are needed to ensure that serious incidents are prevented in the future and crewmembers are protected.

If you have been injured while working offshore, please contact us at Schechter, Shaffer & Harris, L.L.P., Accident & Injury Lawyers  for more information about your case at info@smslegal.com.  Our firm has been handling Jones Act Claims for over 45 years.