Seattle Maritime Injury Law Blog

Russian-flagged 371-foot tanker RENDA, escorted through over 300 miles of ice-covered seas by U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker HEALY, reached Nome, Alaska on Saturday, January 14, with 1.3 million gallons of unleaded gasoline and diesel fuel. Pumping the fuel into the town pipeline began safely during the few daylight hours on Monday. Normally, Nome residents would have received their full winter fuel supply by barge months ago, but a November storm made their final barge delivery impossible. Nome faced running out of fuel supplies before March or April if not for RENDA coming through with the first winter sea delivery ever to Nome. One solution was a very expensive fuel delivery by air, and that's exactly what might have been the only solution if it were not for a Jones Act waiver allowing the Russian vessel to operate in both Dutch Harbor to take on 400,000 of gasoline, and in Nome to deliver that gasoline as well as the diesel that RENDA had first loaded in South Korea.

The Jones Act dates from 1920, created in support of a strong, loyal, U.S. Merchant Marine, U.S. commerce, and national defense. According to the act, as a matter of national security, all commercial vessels operating within three miles of the U.S. coast must be built in the U.S., owned by a U.S. citizen, and have a crew consisting of at least three-quarters of U.S. citizens. Cabotage by foreign vessels is not allowed in U.S. waters between U.S. ports without a Jones Act waiver approved by the Secretary of Homeland Security. A waiver may be granted "in the interest of national defense" only if a foreign vessel can do some pressing work that a U.S. vessel cannot do. If a U.S. vessel can do the work, the waiver will not be granted. Waivers are typically very specific about what work is to be done, what supplies will be involved, and about waiver duration.

Recently, the Jones Act has been the center of some controversy in regard to waivers. In 2005, the Bush administration promptly granted waivers in order that fuel supplies be immediately delivered to ravaged parts of the Gulf after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. But, when the BP oil spill occurred in the Gulf, the Obama administration insisted that U.S. ships could do all the work, and that the aid offered by foreign vessels was therefore not needed. Questions arose whether some or much of the terrible environmental aftermath could have been avoided had a waiver been quickly granted and foreign aid accepted. In the case of Nome, two points were favorable. First, the U.S. Coast Guard is part of the Department of Homeland Security, and is directly involved in the fuel delivery, is overseeing the fuel transfer, along with state and local authorities, and will eventually escort RENDA over 360 miles back to the Bering Sea. Second, only RENDA could make the timely delivery, saving Nome residents much time and money, and perhaps saving lives during what is said to be the harshest winter in decades. 

Sunday, January 8, the Coast Guard Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Honolulu was alerted that the 18-year-old master of U.S.-flagged F/V SIVA MOANA had fallen overboard while bringing in fishing gear. The young man was not wearing a life jacket. SIVA MOANA was about 115 miles south of American Samoa at the time.

An air search ensued, first by the Royal New Zealand Air Force, soon joined and relieved by the Coast Guard out of Barbers Point, using SAROPS (Search and Rescue Optimal Planning System). SAROPS determines the most probable search area by computing information on weather, wind speed and direction, and search object size. The Coast Guard also measured currents using two self-locating data marker buoys. They covered a 2,890 mile search area before suspending the search later on Monday, after taking time, survival probability, and weather data into account.

The Coast Guard expressed their thoughts and prayers to family and friends of the seaman.

January 9, the captain of F/V VINCENZO radioed the New Haven Coast Guard, gave their position as twelve miles south of Shinnecock, Long Island, and said that the vessel was flooding. Soon after that, he radioed again that the two-person crew were in their survival suits and were abandoning ship for their life raft, EPIRB in hand.

The Coast Guard sent out an urgent marine information broadcast. Nearby Good Samaritan F/V RHONDA & DENISE picked up the crew from the life raft, soon transferring the VINZENCO crew to a Coast Guard rescue boat. No one was reported injured.

The Coast Guard noted the captain's calm demeanor during the emergency. This is another great example of safety preparedness and teamwork.

Two fifty-foot power boats, moored next to each other, burned at the Edmonds Marina early the morning of December 31, with flames reportedly fifty feet high at the time firefighters arrived. A janitor who was working nearby noticed the flames and made the call shortly before 4:00 a.m.

No serious injuries were reported, but a couple who were overnighting onboard their boat near the end of the same dock inhaled smoke and were unable to get safely off the dock until Snohomish County firefighters brought them ashore via rescue boat. Both people were treated for minor smoke inhalation and were released from Swedish Edmonds Hospital a few hours later.

The Port of Edmonds quickly placed floating booms to contain fuel, debris, and firefighting chemicals. Most of the fuel is thought to have burned, but an estimated twenty gallons of diesel leaked into the water. The Department of Ecology is assessing the environmental impact and is working to control damage from the fuel and debris.

Firefighters have determined that the fire originated on the boat which sank. That boat was raised Saturday evening, and the investigation continues to date.