Alaska Maritime Injury Attorneys

Barber and Banker serves workers injured on vessels calling at any point along the 47,000 miles of Alaskan coastline.

Alaska is a Coastal State

44,000 miles of coastline

103 coastal towns in Alaska

409,000 Alaskan residents live on/near the coast

No other state in the continental U.S. depends on water transportation to the extent Alaska does

• Imports: 84% by marine routes (by tonnage)
• Exports: 86% by marine routes (primarily oil)
• Coastal towns/villages dependent on barges
• Top three trading partners
• WA (41%), CA (37%), HI (3%) Foreign (13%)

The export of natural resources is the prime mover of cargo in Alaska, our lawyers are very familiar with the full range of cargo, vessel types, and crew operations particular to them all.  These include bulk carriers transporting urea, coal, zinc and lead concentrates; reefer vessels carrying seafood; tankers carrying crude oil, refined product, ammonia and LNG and log ships carrying round logs and lumber.  Tugs throughout Alaska assist larger vessels providing both tethered and untethered escort services.

Alaska Seafood Industry

Alaska supports one of the most productive commercial fishing economies in the world.  The seafood industry is said to contribute $5.8 billion dollars and 78,500 jobs to the Alaskan economy.

Offshore jobs vary extensively from ship to ship and depending on the species of fish. Some large factory trawlers will have crews numbering in the hundreds with an equal number of job titles and varying responsibilities.  Two or three people however, such as a gillnetting boat may only operate small boats.

Factory trawlers and longliners specialize mostly in groundfish (cod and sablefish for example) and employ hundreds of people with hundreds of different job titles.  Deckhand positions, processors, cooks, medical care workers, engineers, fisherman and mechanics are all positions that can be found on these larger boats.

Alaska Cruise Ship Injuries

More than 931,000 cruise passengers visited Alaska in 2010.

An Alaskan Cruise is the vacation of a lifetime and should be non-stop fun, sun, shopping and dining.  But a dream vacation comes to a halt when dangerous conditions onboard or excursions at ports of call lead to tourists' injury or death.

Cruise Ship Injuries

Our firm can handle all types of injuries occurring on an Alaska Vacation Cruise:

• Slip and fall accidents on wet or uneven surfaces, or due to cruise ship maneuvering
• Water slide, wave pool and swimming pool accidents
• Accidents on cruise line-approved excursions at ports of call
• Cruise ship sexual assault or physical assault by crew members or other passengers
• Contaminated food resulting in severe illness (i.e. norwalk virus infections, gastrointestinal infections, salmonella, etc.)
• Medical negligence — People who are treated aboard a cruise liner may be put off at ports in other countries without adequate arrangements made for their care. The treating doctors may not be qualified or have proper medical equipment, leading to wrong diagnosis and/or improper treatment.

Contact an Attorney!

In many cases, a passenger's cruise ticket provides for a one-year statute of limitations on personal injury claims against the cruise line. While cruise liner cases typically settle out of court, it is critical to retain an attorney as soon as possible after the accident.  Because of the short window, Barber & Banker, LLC must file a lawsuit, either in state or federal court, even if the case is likely to settle.  Contacting a lawyer quickly also enables us to document unsafe conditions on the ship and interview witnesses or crew members while they are in port or return to port on subsequent sailings.

Contact the Alaska Maritime Lawyers of Barber & Banker for a free consultation. We will investigate your injury promptly.

Fuel Distribution

Included in this operation are tugs and barges that navigate Alaskan coasts and rivers carrying petroleum during the summer months, typically between May and October each year.

Foreign Flag Vessel Casualties - Trans-Pacific Great Circle Route - Unimak Pass

Many of the vessels trading between northern Asia and the northern Pacific Coast ports of the United States and Canada follow the Great Circle Route through Unimak Pass at the eastern end of the Aleutian Islands chain. The pass is just west of Unimak Island, 1,300 miles west of Juneau and 800 miles southwest of Anchorage.  The vessels involved in this trade are a mix of large commercial ships classed as containerships, bulk carriers, car carriers, tank vessels, and others.

A recent study revealed that 2,336 vessels, or on average, eight or nine deep draft vessels a day pass through the Aleutians.

Hundreds of crewmembers are put ashore for medical treatment in Alaska every year.  Many work on vessels that were not otherwise destined for an Alaskan port.

If you, or someone you know, has been put ashore for medical treatment, contact the maritime lawyers at Barber & Banker to learn about your rights.

Alaska’s Coastal Areas

Northwest

Bering Straits, Bethel, Nome, North Slope Borough, and Northwest Arctic Borough

Southwest

Aleutians East Borough, Aleutians West, Bristol Bay Borough, Kodiak Island Borough, and Lake & Peninsula Borough.

South Central

Anchorage, Cordova, Kenai Peninsula Borough, Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Valdez, and Whittier.

Southeast

Craig, Haines, Hoonah, Juneau, Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Pelican, Sitka, Skagway, Thorne Bay, Wrangell, and Yakutat.

Salvage Incidents for vessels 60’ or larger near Dutch Harbor

Year	Name		length		type of casualty
1979	F/V Western King		85’		Stranding
1980	F/V Seafoam		71’		Stranding
1989	M/V Swallow		307’		Stranding
1989	F/V Rosella		90’		Sank
1989	F/V American Beauty		105’		Stranding
1989	F/V Northern Dawn		58’		Capsized
1990	F/V Sable		85’		Stranding
1990	F/V Shin Vang Ho		280’		Sank
1991	F/V Skagit Eagle		96’		Stranding
1991	F/V Pegasus		90’		Stranding
1991	F/V Sunset Bay		105’		Stranding
1992	F/V Elisabeth F		85’		Stranding
1993	Tug JS Keen		60’		Stranding
1993	Keen 4-969, Barge		120’		Stranding
1993	RACUM 627, Barge		150’		Stranding
1994	Investigator Barge		180’		Adrift
1994	F/V Chevak		132’		Stranding
1994	M/V All Alaskan		340’		Fire
1994	F/VAJ		138’		Stranding
1994	F/V Pacific Breeze		80’		Stranding
1994	F/V Beiair		91’		Stranding
1994	F/V Alaskan Monarch		96’		Stranding
1994	F/V Terminator		175’		Stranding
1995	Empress Hilton Barge		260’		Stranding
1995	F/V Billikin		135’		Fire
1995	M/V Bradley River		115’		Stranding
1996	M/V Citrus		307’		At-sea dewatering
1996	F/V All American		160’		Stranding
1996	Aleutian Eagle Barge		150’		Stranding
1996	F/V Arctic Dawn		96’		Stranding
1996	F/V Commodore		118’		Stranding
1996	PTBS 286-1, Barge		286’		Stranding
1996	F/V Alaskan Dawn		90’		Stranding
1996	F/V Rebecca B		75’		Stranding
1997	Boxer Barge		130’		Stranding
1998	M/V Kuroshima		367’		Stranding
1998		M/V Redought		160’		Stranding
1999		M/V Hekifu		367’		Stranding
1999		M/V Redfin		198’		Stranding
2000		F/V Shellfish		85’		Stranding
2000		F/V Mitrofania		85’		Stranding
2000		F/V Starrigavan		65’		Stranding
2000		F/V American Star		160’		Stranding
2001		F/V YunHai		310’		Fire/Adrift
2001		Home Bar 1, Barge		120’		Stranding
2002		Qanirtuuq Princess		156’		Sank
2002		Flying D		95’		Stranding
2003		F/V Genie Maru		180’		Stranding
2003		Decade		60’		Capsized
2003		F/V Raven		90’		Partial Capsize
2004		F/V Impala		173’		Grounding
2004		F/V Cecilia		153’		Stranding
2004		P/V Clipper Odyssey		340’		Grounding
2004		M/V Selendang Ayu		738’		Grounding
2006		M/V Cougar Ace		655’		Partial Capsize
2007		F/V Exodus Explorer		100’		Sank

Alaska Commercial Fishing Fatalities

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) reports that during the decade of 2000-2009, 133 commercial fishermen died while working in Alaskan waters.  The fewest fatalities occurred in 2000 and 2009, with eight occupational deaths in each of those years. In 2001, 24 fishermen died on the job, including 15 in a single vessel disaster.  On average for the decade, 13 fishermen were killed per year.  Half of the deaths were caused by drowning following vessel disasters (e.g. sinking, capsizing, fire, etc) in which the crew was forced to abandon ship. Another 31% of fatalities were the result of falls overboard.   The 12 fatal injuries sustained on-board were the result of being struck by gear ( 33%), falling from height (25%), getting caught in a deck winch (17%), asphyxiation in a confined space (17%), and a drug overdose (8%).