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5 Safety Steps Commercial Vessel Owners and Operators Can Take to Prevent Maritime Deaths

Over the last decade, 33% of all U.S. commercial fishing fatalities occurred off of the East Coast. While commercial fishing is inherently dangerous and all instances of injury and death cannot be prevented, there are steps that vessel owners and operators can take to protect fishermen.

Preventing East Coast Maritime Deaths

Specifically, the government recommends that fatalities in East Coast fisheries can be reduced if vessel owners and operators:
  1. Prevent gear entanglement. Fishermen who become entangled in their gear may lose their balance and fall overboard.
  2. Prevent fishermen from being hit by gear. Fishermen who are hit by their gear face a similar risk of falling overboard to their colleagues who are entangled in their gear.
  3. Prevent winch entanglements with the use of e-stops. Winch entanglements are particularly risky and stops, such as the use of e-stops, should be taken to protect fishermen.
  4. Prevent gear from being entangled on the ocean floor. This is particularly important in the scallop fisheries and may prevent scallop boats form capsizing.
  5. Continue training commercial fishermen to survive disasters and give them equipment necessary to survive disasters. Fishermen who know what to do in an emergency and who are provided with life saving equipment such as PDFs may not drown if thrown overboard.

Other specific recommendations are also available that could lead to fewer vessel collisions, fewer fishermen overboard, fewer vessel capsizings and fewer deaths.

When to Contact a New York Jones Act Attorney

If you have been hurt, or if you have lost a loved one, in an East Coast maritime accident, then it is important to contact a New York Jones Act lawyer as soon as possible. Your New York City Jones Act attorney will work hard to get you the fair damages that you deserve.

Please contact us today at 1-800-3-MAY-DAY or 1-800-362-9329 for more information. We also invite you to read our FREE book: The Legal Rights of Injured Seamen and other Commercial Mariners.

*Source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health: Fatal Occupational Injuries in the U.S.: Commercial Fishing Industry: Risk Factors and Recommendations: East Coast Region


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