maritimelaw

Photo courtesy Flickr user 'Porch Dog' The Coast Guard said Friday that it has approved a salvage plan submitted by Foss Maritime to remove the supply ship M/V Delta Mariner and section of bridge that still rests across her bow more than a week after striking a Kentucky bridge . The 312 foot Delta Mariner , which is owned and operated by Foss, struck the Eggner’s Ferry Bridge located on the Tennessee River near Paducah, KY, on January 26th, taking a nearly 350 foot span of the aging... Read Full Story

V.A. FOGG Yesterday, February 1st, 2012, marked the 40th anniversary of the explosion and sinking of the cargo vessel V.A. Fogg in Gulf of Mexico, resulting in the death of all 39 crew members onboard. On February 1, 1972, the cargo ship V.A. Fogg –formerly the liberty ship SS Four Lakes – unloaded a cargo of benzene in Freeport, Texas and departed for the Gulf of Mexico to clean its tanks before heading to Galveston to drop off its remaining cargo of xylene.  Just a few hours after her... Read Full Story

NEW ORLEANS, LA – On Tuesday, January 31, 2012, a Federal Judge made a ruling in the civil case involving BP, Plc and Halliburton, the company that provided the cement that was supposed to seal off the Macondo well head in the Gulf Oil Spill disaster in April, 2010. BP - British Petroleum The amount of damages that has been awarded in the aftermath of the Gulf Oil Spill has amounted to $40 billion for cleanup costs, damage claims and economic losses. BP has filed a lawsuit against... Read Full Story

Photo: Wikimedia Commons Italian authorities yesterday officially called off search operations for missing people in the submerged portions of the stricken Costa Concordia due to conditions that are just to dangerous and complex for divers to continue. Studies conducted of ships’ deformed hull created too many safety concerns to continue the search within it, said Italy’s Civil Protection Agency in a statement. A spokeswoman for the agency, Francesca Maffini, told the Associate Press that... Read Full Story

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier has received a stack of motions from BP asking him to seal testimony and strike evidence in the upcoming Gulf Oil Spill trial scheduled for February 27, 2012. It appears that  BP’s motions to seal testimony and strike evidence is a key part of their defense strategy. U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier to rule on BP's motions to seal testimony and strike evidence. BP’s numerous motions asking the judge to exclude various pieces of evidence include: Prior... Read Full Story

M/V Delta Mariner. Photo: Boeing A cargo ship carrying a load of empty rocket booster cores struck a bridge in western Kentucky taking a nearly 300 foot portion of the bridge with it as she passed underneath. According to authorities, the M/V Delta Mariner struck the Eggner Ferry Bridge at approximately 8:10pm local time on Thursday, causing two spans of the U.S. 68/KY 80 bridge stretching over the Kentucky Lake to collapse onto the vessels bow.  Authorities have said that there have been... Read Full Story

ROME, Italy – The Italian Association of Tour Operators told the media that a decision between Costa Cruises and consumer groups was reached offering the surviving passengers of the Costa Concordia cruise ship a compensation lump sum of $14,460 plus travel and medical costs. The offer does not apply to hundreds of crew members who were on the ship and lost their jobs due to the disaster. Passengers are still free to take legal action on their own if they do not accept the offer... Read Full Story

Check out these videos shot by a crew member of the M/V Tara Crosby on location in the Gulf of Mexico as three tugboats tow a jackup rig to an oil well. The videos offer a rare glimpse into the lives of mariners working to support offshore oil and gas operations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The three tugs pictured in the videos — M/V Tara Crosby , M/V Crosby Viking and M/V Crosby Clipper — are owned and operated by Crosby Tugs out of Galliano, La. and you’ll notice the video narrator adds... Read Full Story

The MARGE MCFARLIN towing vessel, built in 1976. Photo: Ingram Barge Company Parts of the Monongahela and Ohio rivers were closed late last week after a towing vessel allided with a bridge while pushing 12 loaded coal barges, resulting in two of the barges breaking away. The Coast Guard reported that at approximately 2:30 a.m. on Thursday, watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Ohio Valley received a report that the towing vessel Marge Mcfarlin , which is owned and operated by Ingram Barge... Read Full Story

GIGLIO, Italy – Two more bodies were discovered Monday near the Internet cafe on the fourth deck, according Franco Gabrielli, head of the civil protection agency. The bodies were identified as two women which now brings the total number of the dead to 15. Eighteen passengers are still missing. Gabrielli said that the bodies have yet to be removed from the ship and the nationalities of the victims have yet to be determined. The Costa Concordia cruise ship still lies on its side... Read Full Story