http://www.jonesactbook.com/blog/ Vujasinovic & Beckcom P.L.L.C Blog en-us 2013 Vujasinovic & Beckcom P.L.L.C, All Rights Reserved, Reproduced with Permission http://www.jonesactbook.com/blog/ Wed, 22 May 2013 12:19:36 GMT http://www.jonesactbook.com/images/logoprint.gif http://www.jonesactbook.com/blog/
“It’s not a great start to the year," especially after an industry goal of zero events for 2010, said Bill Box, spokesman for Intertanko. He continued, “But if we don’t set zero as a goal, we’ll never get there.”

Box was referring to the 11,000 barrel spill on January 23rd in the Sabine-Netches Waterway at Port Arthur after the Eagle Otome collided with a barge pushed by a Kirby tow.

State pilot regulators have announced that they are to begin an investigation into the circumstances of the accident. While the names of the pilots on duty at the time of the collision have not been released, the pilot commission says that they were fully licensed by the Coast Guard and the state.

Traffic to the waterway was re-opened Wednesday. About 1,700 barrels of oil and 4,700 barrels of oily water have been recovered from the spill which affects a nine-mile long stretch of shoreline.

Source: Fairplay Daily News]]>http://www.jonesactbook.com/blog/port-arthur-texas-pilots-under-investigation-after-oil-spill.cfmwww.jonesactbook.com-25828Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST
“It’s not a great start to the year," particularly after industry set a target of zero spill incidents in 2010, said Bill Box, spokesman for Intertanko. He continued, “But if we don’t set zero as a goal, we’ll never get there.”

Box was referring to the 11,000 barrel spill on January 23rd in the Sabine-Netches Waterway at Port Arthur after the Eagle Otome collided with a bargeand tow unit pushed by a Kirby tug.

State pilot regulators have announced that they are to begin an investigation into the circumstances of the accident. While the names of the pilots on duty at the time of the collision have not been released, the pilot commission says that they were fully licensed by the Coast Guard and the state.

Traffic to the waterway was re-opened Wednesday. About 1,700 barrels of oil and 4,700 barrels of oily water have been recovered from the spill which affected a nine-mile long stretch of shoreline.

Source: Fairplay Daily News]]>http://www.jonesactbook.com/blog/texas-pilots-under-investigation-after-port-arthur-oil-spill.cfmwww.jonesactbook.com-25829Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST
According to the suit, Leslie Vincent Tapia of Alabama seeks $75,000 for undisclosed serious and disabling injuries he suffered aboard the M/V Warren Thomas while washing out the starboard engine.

Tapia charges Supreme Offshore Services Inc. for failure to provide proper and safe working equipment, claims that the vessel was unseaworthy and that his employer is refusing to pay for medical care. Tapia states in the suit filed in Galveston, Texas that he suffered pain, disfigurement and lost wages.

The suit says “such a failure to provide proper working equipment proximately caused and resulted in the injuries and damages sustained by the plaintiff” and that “the plaintiff would show that nothing he did or failed to do caused, or in any way contributed to his injuries.”

Source: Southeast Texas Record]]>http://www.jonesactbook.com/blog/alabama-offshore-worker-files-jones-act-suit-for-workplace-injuries2.cfmwww.jonesactbook.com-25193Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST
St. James Park, a British flagged chemical tanker, was attacked in the Internationally Recognized Transit Corridor (IRTC), a causeway that is patrolled by an international naval force. It’s one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes with nearly 20,000 vessels passing through each year.

According to EU Naval Force spokesman Cdr. John Harbour, 26 crew members are aboard the vessel; the crew members hail from  Bulgaria, Georgia, India, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine.

The ship sent a distress message only after it was hijacked, said Noel Choong of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) Piracy Reporting Center. That signal went to a rescue coordination center in Piraeus, Greece, where it was broadcast to the shipping industry. 

The ship, which was running from Spain to Thailand, was last reported to be heading to the northern coast of Somalia.

Just three hours after the St. James Park was hijacked, a Panamanian flagged ship with 19 crewmembers was hijacked off southern Somalia.

The IMB reports that there have been 214 pirate attacks near Somalia this year with 47 vessels hijacked.

Source: Associated Press]]>http://www.jonesactbook.com/blog/pirates-make-big-return-to-gulf-of-aden.cfmwww.jonesactbook.com-24185Tue, 29 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST
The Coast Guard received a distress call from the Sam S. just after it went down mid-afternoon at mile marker 39.5 near the town of Chester.

The vessel’s pilot went in the water briefly before being picked up by a nearby towing vessel and no deaths or injuries were reported.

A sheen was reported coming off the sunken vessel which reportedly carried 500 gallons of fuel. The owner, Georgetown Sand and Gravel, was said to be making efforts to contain pollution. The towboat was not a threat to navigation because it sank outside the navigation channel.

Source: U.S. Coast Guard]]>http://www.jonesactbook.com/blog/coast-guard-investigating-tug-sinking-and-pollution-near-pittsburgh.cfmwww.jonesactbook.com-23953Sat, 26 Dec 2009 00:00:00 ESTSingapore company also fined for pollution by Washington State

The Washington State Department of Ecology has hit two ship operators with fines for hydraulic oil spills in state waters.

DS Schiffahrt GmbH & Co. KG of Hamburg, Germany, was fined $17,250 because the Hyundai Republic, a 997-foot container ship, spilled 159 gallons into Tacoma’s Blair Waterway in March.

The incident occurred after the vessel’s bow thruster was damaged with a three foot fracture as the ship was getting underway out of the Port of Tacoma. Crew members said they heard the sound of loud metal breaking as the thruster engaged. Low hydraulic fluid warning lights went off on the bridge and engine room. After shutting down the system for 15 minutes, the ship fled the dock under tug assistance. The master ignored state law by failing to immediately report the incident, refusing to  contain the leak or clean up the oil.

“This incident is alarming because the ship's master didn't report the spill until 3 p.m. — after the Hyundai Republic was nearly to Seattle," said David Byers, of the Department of Ecology.

Ecology fined Masterbulk Pte Ltd. of Singapore for a separate incident three days later. It’s 700-foot cargo vessel, Heranger, developed a slow hydraulic leak in the Columbia River that lasted for 58 hours. Masterbulk received a $16,000 fine.

Source: Professional Mariner]]>http://www.jonesactbook.com/blog/german-ship-operator-pays-for-hit-and-run-spill-in-columbia-river.cfmwww.jonesactbook.com-23948Thu, 24 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST
Named in the suit are Belle Pass Towing Corp., South Bayou Marine, Hercules Offshore and Hercules Assets.

Ashley McNeal suffered torn ligaments and multiple surgeries after a cable whipped into his leg on December 10, 2007 at Sabine Yard in Jefferson County, Texas. McNeal was involved in positioning the rig for inspection at the dock. According to the suit, while McNeal attempted to unhook a cable, he tried to direct the drivers of the two tug boats used in the operation to slack off on a cable. But they allegedly accelerated instead, pulling the cable taut and causing it to whip his knee.

The complaint states that McNeal suffered medical expenses and lost wages along with mental anguish and disfigurement. His wife, Neely, a party to the suit, also suffered lost wages because she had to leave her job to care for her husband full time.

The suit was filed earlier this month in Jefferson County, Texas.

Source: Southeast Texas Record]]>http://www.jonesactbook.com/blog/marine-companies-sued-after-cable-snaps-mangling-workers-knee.cfmwww.jonesactbook.com-23949Thu, 24 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST