Cruise Ship Accident Lawyer Blog

MIAMI, FL— May 26, 2011 – The hunt continues for the operator of a boat that wrecked along the Intracoastal Waterway last weekend, causing a passenger on board to suffer serious head injuries. TCPalm reports stated that shortly after the boat crashed into an illuminated channel marker around 9:46 p.m. on May 21, 2011, the 21-year-old Jupiter man who was operating the vessel fled the scene on foot.

According to officials from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), Timothy Doran was operating a 23-foot boat, which he was not the owner of, when it collided with a channel marker for unknown reasons. Jupiter police suspect that alcohol might have contributed to the injurious boat wreck. Nevertheless, the FWC is expected to conduct a full investigation to determine the cause of the boat crash.

One passenger aboard the crashed boat, 26-year-old Kai Woodstock, suffered critical injuries. Woodstock was flown to St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach to be treated for severe head injuries sustained in the collision. Reports did not specify whether Woodstock suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the boating accident.

There were four additional passengers aboard the watercraft when the violent boat accident occurred, though it appeared as if only one of them, Eric Conerly, 25, suffered injuries. Conerly’s injuries were described as minor. Authorities did not know if Doran was hurt in the crash.

Statistics provided by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) suggest there were 4,730 recreational boating accidents, resulting in a total of 736 boating fatalities, during the year 2009. Investigations into the Palm Beach County boat crash are underway.

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MIAMI, FL— May 24 2011 – Two days after an Omega Protein Inc. pogy boat became involved in a collision with a Chiquita container ship in the Gulfport ship channel, the U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search for the three crew members who went missing after the boating accident. According to information provided by the Sun Herald, Coast Guard personnel continue to search for the bodies of the three workers who disappeared in the May 18, 2011 Mississippi ship collision, though they did not seem to believe there were any more survivors.

Reports indicated the 163-foot Omega Protein Inc.-owned Sandy Point was en route to the company’s plant in Moss Point, Mississippi when it collided with the 660-foot Eurus London, which was transporting crates of Chiquita bananas to Texas at the time.

While details concerning the ship collision remained scarce, the Coast Guard’s navigation rules state, “A vessel engaged in fishing shall not impede the passage of any other vessel navigating within a narrow channel or fairway… A vessel shall not cross a narrow channel or fairway if such crossing impedes the passage of a vessel which can safely navigate only within such channel or fairway.”

Relatives identified two of the three boating accident victims who were reported missing after the ship wreck as Lindsey Tucker and Roderick Watkins. According to Lt. Matthew Mitchell, commander center chief of the Coast Guard’s Mobile, Alabama division, “Recovery is still ongoing. Our hearts and our prayers go out to the families of those three gentlemen.” A full probe into the fatal boating accident was expected to be underway.

Coast Guard statistics suggest there were a total of 4,730 recreational boating accidents, claiming the lives of 736 accident victims, during the 2009.

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