A deckhand on the 117-foot crab fishing vessel Patricia Lee was seriously injured Tuesday while working on deck. Early reports indicate that the crewman suffered serious injury to his pelvis when he was pinned between the crab pot and the vessels rail. Alaska crab pots can approach a thousand pounds in weight, and when being landed, moved and set in heavy seas can result in serious injury to vessel crewmen. It is important to keep the pots under control at all times and to avoid fishing in excessive weather conditions or when a vessel is undermanned. A basic principle of maritime law is that the employer owes every crewman aboard their vessel a safe place to work.
The injury to the Patricia Lee crewman happened 200 miles southwest of Dutch Harbor. Weather on site was reported to be 40-50 knot winds with 14-foot seas. The injured crewman was medevacked from the fishing vessel by a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and taken to Dutch Harbor. The crewman was reportedly medevacked from Dutch Harbor to Anchorage for further treatment.
Working on Alaska crab remains one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. Crewman injured working aboard crab vessels such as the Patricia Lee are covered by complex system of Federal Maritime Laws and statutes commonly referred to as the Jones Act. The experienced maritime lawyers at Johnson Beard & Trueb know how accidents happen at sea and how crewman injuries could have been prevented. We understand how your injuries impact you and your family’s future. The lawyers at Johnson Beard & Trueb have offices in Anchorage and Seattle. They have handle over a thousand Jones Act cases and recovered millions of dollars in compensation for their clients located throughout the country. Johnson Beard & Trueb are the lawyers Alaska fishermen trust to get fair compensation for their injuries.
Don’t guess about your rights to compensation, and the vessel owner’s duties to pay for your medical care, lost wages, and pain and suffering. To learn more about your rights under maritime law to compensation as a commercial fisherman in Alaska contact Johnson Beard & Trueb PC 907-277-0161. Ask us about the success we have had representing injured Alaska fishermen.