A man was rescued from a 30-foot motor boat that went up in flames Thursday morning as it floated in the placid blue waters between Bainbridge Island and the Kitsap Peninsula. The fire broke out about 6:45 a.m. after the man piloted his boat, the “Liberty Call,” out of the…
Articles Posted in Maritime Issues
Multiple suits against Ride the Ducks
There have been multiple headlines in the last few weeks regarding suits against Ride the Ducks arising out of injuries to tour passengers or other drivers on the road. Yesterday, days into a federal wrongful death trial that was expected to last a month, a $17 million settlement was reached…
Fishing boat runs aground near Neah Bay, three crewmembers rescued
The Coast Guard rescued three fishermen early this morning after their 37-foot fishing vessel Karanna ran aground on the Chibahdehl Rocks, approximately four miles west of Neah Bay, Wash. There were reports at 3:35 a.m. that the vessel was taking on water and when rescue crews arrived they were unable…
Tacoma adds new fireboat to its fleet
Tacoma added a new fireboat to its fleet this week. The boat is faster, more agile and more economical to operate than the aging boat it joins, but the $675,000, 30-foot Destiny has one thing in common with its fleet mate: Both were built outside the United States. The Destiny…
The ports of Seattle and Tacoma are fighting each other for business while the Northwest ports have a shrinking market share
In March, the Grand Alliance shipping lines decided to move from Seattle to Tacoma. When that happens in July, it will take about 20 percent of the container business from the Port of Seattle, more if lines associated with the alliance, Zim and Hamburg Sud, decide to go, too. The…
Boat-building company picks Anacortes site
An Australia boat-building company has decided to open a facility in Anacortes rather than in Bellingham. Last month Aluminum Boats Australia entered into a 30-day due diligence period with the Port of Bellingham to lease a 30,000-square-foot site at the Fairhaven Marine Industrial Park, near the Bellingham Cruise Terminal. According…
What will debris from Japan’s March 2011 tsunami mean for the Pacific coast of the U.S and the U.S. maritime industry?
Earlier this month, the Coast Guard sank a 164-foot Japanese shrimping vessel, the Ryou-Un Maru, in the Gulf of Alaska about 195 miles south of Sitka after the vessel drifted for over a year across the Pacific Ocean. The vessel was dislodged in Hokkaido due to the March 2011 tsunami.…
Dramatic fire destroys yacht at Fishermen’s Terminal
A spectacular fire destroyed a 105-foot yacht at Fishermen’s Terminal before dawn today, April 27, 2012, just hours before it was due to depart on a 15-day Alaskan cruise. No one was injured, and a harbor patrol boat managed to tow a half-dozen other boats away from the fire to…
Coast Guard suspends search for overboard tug master
On Thursday afternoon, the Coast Guard has suspended its search pending further developments for a 48-year-old man who was reported to have fallen overboard into the frigid Atlantic from a Boston-bound tugboat approximately nine miles south of Newport, R.I. on Wednesday. The man was the master of the New York…
Basics of the International Safety Management Code
Seafaring work poses unique dangers that land-based work does not. As a result, American mariners are entitled to the protection of a number of federal laws that regulate shipboard safety and provide remedies for workers who are injured in maritime accidents. In addition to those laws, nearly all seamen –…