Crabbing season began on Monday in Oregon with the news that a 42-foot crab boat capsized last Friday in Tillamook Bay near the north jetty. The Coast Guard reported that the captain of the boat was able to swim to shore. However, two others with him have been missing since the accident and are assumed drowned. The Coast Guard has suspended its search for the two men, though an oil sheen was spotted near the area where the boat broke up.

The Coast Guard initially reported that the captain of the boat survived because he was wearing a life jacket. However, they now say that none of the three were wearing life jackets. Apparently the captain just got lucky.

Since early 2007, at least 15 people have lost their lives at the bar in Tillamook Bay.

If you have lost a loved one in a boating accident, please contact an experienced boating accident attorney in your area.

A boating accident on the St. Clair River killed three people and seriously injured a fourth. The injured woman was taken to the University of Michigan Hospital for surgery. The dead include the survivor's husband, and boat owner, and another couple.

According to police, the 21-foot fiberglass boat collided with a dock around 9:40 pm Friday, October 10^th. One of the victims was thrown from the boat and into the water upon impact. Witnesses to the crash pulled out the others and said there was "a large quantity" of beer and wine on the boat. They also detected the smell of alcohol on the victims. Police say that though there were lifejackets aboard the boat, none of the passengers were wearing one. The boat was reportedly heading home when they crashed at a high rate of speed. However, an investigation into the accident is ongoing.

The dead couple, identified as Scott Jay Gearhart and Barbara Janet Gearhart, leaves behind a 10-year-old and a 13-year-old.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a boating accident, please contact an experienced personal injury lawyer in your area.

A gust of wind caused a Hobie Cat sailboat to capsize near the Saugatuck River channel entrance in the Long Island Sound on Tuesday, August 26. An 18-year-old sailing instructor and three young children were all thrown into the water. Three-year-old William Howell and six-year-old Andrew Howell survived, but their cousin, three-year-old Alexandra Vitale, died.

Authorities say children had life vests on, but may have been in the water for nearly 20 minutes waiting for someone to rescue them. Another boat found the instructor and one child clinging to the capsized boat, called in a mayday and then assisted in the rescue. When Alexandra was finally pulled from the water, she was unresponsive and CPR was administered on the way to the hospital where she died.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a boating accident, please contact an experienced boating accident attorney in your area.

A 26-foot boat ran aground due to the darkness of night and the shallowness of a Hudson River marsh and overturned early July 29^th near Highland Falls, New York. The boat was carrying five friends who were returning home after eating at a Newburgh restaurant when the accident happened.

One of the five, 25-year-old Steven Vasta, used his cell phone to call 911 as the five were trapped beneath the overturned hull. Vasta let dispatchers know they were trapped. He made two calls, but both were cut off. However, authorities were able to pinpoint the location of the boat and sent in helicopters, boats, and cars from surrounding counties. The wreck was found in waist-high water.

Although the rescuers were able to save four of the five, tragically Vasta died. The pilot of the boat, John Downey III was treated at a hospital and released. His fiancé, Vanessa Santos and another friend, Marco Almeida, were listed in good condition, while Sean Morris was listed in serious condition. Authorities believe all may have died if it wasn't for Vasta making the emergency calls.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a boating accident, please contact the Accident Lawyers Network to find an experienced injury lawyer in your area.

A 14-year-old lost his left arm on Sunday as he was surfing off the coast of Pacific City, Oregon after being hit by a boat. Cole Ortega was with his sister and her boyfriend when a dory boat sped toward the shore. Ortega was struck and lost his arm between his shoulder and elbow.

Ortega was helped into shore and his arm was retrieved from the ocean. A nurse and two doctors happened to be at the beach and immediately began treating Ortega. The weather was reportedly "rough" and made a good day for surfing, but not for boating. Another surfer said though the waves were high and Ortega couldn't see above them, the driver of the boat, 55-year-old Darrel Martin, didn't honk his horn or do anything else to alert surfers he was near.

Boaters claim they used a spotter on the beach to signal that everything was clear so they could run straight up to the beach. Cape Kiwanda, where the accident occurred, is a popular surfing location and home to a fleet of dory boats used for fishing. Surfers claim that problems with boats have been ongoing because there seems to be no management. "We've been saying for years, this is going to happen," said one of the surfers.

The dory is a small, shallow-draft boat about 15 to 20 feet in length. It is lightweight and diverse enough to use for whitewater rafting and commercial fishing.

According to the U.S Coast Guard, the latest statistics show that 239 people were struck by propellers or motors of boats in 2005 with 31 fatalities. If you or a loved one has been injured when you were struck by a boat, please contact the Accident Lawyers Network to find an experienced injury lawyer in your area.

Erica Blizzard, president of the New Hampshire Recreational Boaters Association, suffered facial injuries when the boat she was piloting crashed on New Hampshire's Lake Winnipesaukee. She is listed in critical condition at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. The accident killed one woman and injured a third woman traveling with Blizzard. Blizzard has testified in the state legislature in the past about her opposition to speed limits for boats. The 37-foot Formula powerboat crashed early Sunday morning when it hit a rocky shoreline near Diamond Island.

Blizzard's father owns the Lakeport Landing Marina in Laconia, New Hampshire. Blizzard is preparing to take over the business from her father who is retiring. She has been active in campaigns to create a "no wake" zone on the lake where she was injured, as well as being active in her opposition to speed limits. Dick Hickok, a member of the Recreational Boaters Association's board of directors, states, "There's no doubt in my mind the skill was there, the knowledge was there. Having a father who owned a marina, growing up with one, now running it, you almost have boats in your blood."

Apparently speed limits are not part of this knowledge. Remember to obey all rules when boating. This includes wearing a life preserver and obeying the speed limits.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a boating accident, please contact the Accident Lawyers Network to find an experienced personal injury lawyer in your area.

A five-year-old boy is dead, and his nine-year-old brother and a 32-year-old man are missing after being thrown from a boat on the Nisqually River in Washington. A man and a woman were able to make it to shore and rescued. According to police, the man, 42-year-old Vincent Farler, was operating the boat while under the influence and driving recklessly. He was arrested on suspicion of homicide by watercraft. The woman is the mother of the boys. Her husband is currently serving in Iraq.

The mother and her boys were apparently having a picnic along the river when Farler and the missing man drove up and asked if they wanted a ride. The boat may have either hit a sandbar or capsized as it was trying to turn around after approaching a log jam. The current is high and swift, and the water extremely cold at this time of year due to runoff from snowmelt. None of those aboard the boat were wearing lifejackets. State law requires that boats, like the 16-foot flat-bottomed craft involved in the accident, carry a lifejacket for each occupant. Police state that the temperature of the river is between 50 and 55 degrees. Those exposed can develop hypothermia within minutes.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a boating accident, please contact the Accident Lawyers Network to find an experienced injury lawyer in your area.

The Cynthia Woods, a sailboat travelling to Veracruz, Mexico for the Veracruz Regatta, capsized late Friday night, June 6^th, spilling the six sailors aboard into the water. The boat was one of nearly 24 boats heading from Galveston, Texas. The Cynthia Woods went missing around midnight on the day it left Galveston and missed its radio check Saturday morning. A search included two Coast Guard helicopters, a Marine Corps C-130 with night vision capabilities, a Falcon jet, and a Coast Guard cutter.

The sailboat was found capsized Saturday afternoon, and five of the six sailors were rescued hours later. They were found floating 23 miles from the coast. The sixth sailor was found dead Sunday afternoon. The survivors say the Cynthia Woods began flooding quickly and flipped over. It was well-stocked with equipment needed for safety, but when the boat capsized, the sailors could only find four life jackets. They took turns wearing them as they waited for rescue.

When the hull of the boat was retrieved, rescuers noticed the keel was missing. The keel keeps the boat balanced in the water so it does not capsize. This may explain how six experienced, and well-trained, sailors found themselves in trouble. This simply goes to show that even those who are trained for accidents may find themselves in a situation beyond their control. It also seems to show that the sailors were not wearing life jackets until the boat began to take on water.

If you have lost a loved one in a boating accident, please contact the Accident Lawyers Network to find an experienced personal injury lawyer in your area.

Weather forced the Coast Guard to cancel their search for a woman who fell from a cruise ship on Sunday. The cruise ship, the Norwegian Dawn, was approximately 45 miles off the coast of Atlantic City when the 46-year-old woman went overboard. The cruise ship left a Manhattan pier earlier in the day and was headed to Bermuda.

A statement from Norwegian Cruise Line said they immediately began a search and rescue operation before notifying the Coast Guard at approximately 8:20 pm. A helicopter was dispatched at 9:00 and arrived on the scene about 40 minutes later. They conducted search and rescue flight patterns until 10:53. Another helicopter from a station in Cape Cod arrived just after midnight Monday, and searched until 3:00 am when they were forced to return to base due to foul weather.

The Norwegian Dawn was cleared to continue its scheduled trip to Bermuda. This accident comes just over five years after the deadliest cruise ship industry accident in which another Norwegian Cruise Line, the SS Norway's boiler exploded killing eight crew members and injuring another ten. Norwegian Cruise Line agreed to plead guilty to criminal negligence in that case.

Though it is rare when people plunge into the water from cruise ships, the surrounding mystery of how someone could fall 50 to 60 feet from the cruise ship often remains just that – a mystery. The reason is that though passengers and crew members fall off vessels, the shipping companies do not reveal this information. And because many cruise ships are flying under a foreign flag, obtaining information can be even more difficult. This is why it is in your best interest to seek a lawyer as soon as possible.

If your loved one has fallen overboard from a cruise ship, please contact the Accident Lawyers Network to find an injury lawyer with experience in maritime law in your area.