A crewman was seriously injured Friday while working aboard the Alaska Fishing Vessel ARAHO. The 51-year-old crewman was reportedly working in the vessel factory stacking pans when a storage crate fell upon him. The detailed circumstances leading up to the injury are currently unknown.
The crew of the ARAHO called the Coast Guard and injured crewman was airlifted by helicopter to St. Paul Island where he was to be evacuated for further medical treatment.
The ARAHO is a 194-foot Bering Sea trawler owned by O’Hara Fisheries. The vessel was built as a state of the art fishing vessel in 2017.
Crewman injured while working aboard Alaska fishing boats are entitled to benefits under Federal Maritime Law. The Maintenance and Cure doctrine requires the vessel owner to pay all medical expenses related to a shipboard injury and to pay a daily living allowance while a crewman is recovering from his injuries. The Jones Act provides compensation to crewmen injured as a result of vessel negligence.
Crewmen working for even the best fishing companies sometimes suffer injuries through no fault of their own. When those serious injuries happen the injured crewman needs the assistance of an experienced Alaska maritime lawyer. The maritime injury lawyers at Johnson Beard and Trueb represent injured fisherman in claims for compensation against the injured fisherman’s employer and vessel owner. They have recovered millions of dollars in compensation for commercial fishermen injured fishing in Alaska.