Multiple media outlets report the Coast Guard has medevaced a 57-year-old passenger Wednesday morning from the Carnival cruise ship Splendor. A Coast Guard Air Station located in Elizabeth City, North Carolina dispatched an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter to assist the passenger in need of medical assistance. The helicopter arrived on scene while the ship was 80 miles off the Virginia coast. The passenger was hoisted into the helicopter and transported to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. The passenger’s condition is unknown as this time.
The Maritime Law Association of the United States has recently included an article about a case handled by BBR in its annual publication. Founded in 1899, the MLA comprises of maritime lawyers, judges, admiralty law professors, and non-lawyers who are selected because they hold responsible positions in the maritime field and have rendered distinguished service in the advancement of maritime law or its administration. Each year the association publishes its annual report which highlights the more significant cases decided that year facing the practice of maritime law.
Sad new coming from New Orleans. Carnival Cruise Lines acknowledges a Carnival Conquest crew member died Sunday morning at the Port of New Orleans while working on the cruise ship’s exterior. The accident occurred when the crew member was performing maintenance work on the side of the vessel while the cruise ship was in port between voyages. Reports state he was working in a cherry picker and became wedged between the machine and a platform holding one of the cruise ship’s lifeboats. The ship’s medical team responded along with local paramedics. Unfortunately, the crew member died. The Coast Guard is currently investigating the incident.
The Coast Guard reports that a helicopter crew was called to rescue a sick 67-year-old man from the QUEEN MARY II cruise ship on the night of October 16, 2013. After a conference call between the cruise ship and the Coast Guard’s district flight surgeon, a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter was dispatched from Air Station Cape Cod. The helicopter flew 47 miles south of Nantucket Island to intercept the QUEEN MARY II and hoisted the man from the ship. Lt. Joe Klinker, 1st Coast Guard District public affairs officer stated, “Hoisting an injured passenger off an underway cruise ship takes a surprising amount of expertise and moving parts, and our crews take pride every time they do it”. He also went on to say, “This case is a great example of our unique role as maritime first responders.”
A 45-foot boat hired by a group of friends began to take on water then capsize in Biscayne Bay just off the Miami Seaquarium Sunday afternoon. Reports reveal the group was coming back from a party spot when the boat started sink. According to the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission spokesman Jorge Pino the boat may have been an illegal charter that transported people to and from a sandbar for $20 per person. There may not have been a Coast Guard licensed captain either. The sinking boat was observed by other boaters who rendered assistance helping to tow the vessel to the beach.
