Lady Luck: Life Raft Weak Link Failed

Details

• Personal Author:
  Backus A
• Description:
  This column is written in memory of our fishing colleagues Capt. Sean Cone, 24, and Dan Miller, 21, who perished on the night of Jan. 31, 2007 while heading from Portland, ME to Newburyport, MA aboard the Lady Luck. It is also to take action on the recommendation of the Coast Guard commandant to increase industry awareness about the installation and purpose of safety gear. The final report on the loss of the Lady Luck seeks an explanation for the sinking of the vessel. Three possibilities were considered: ship strike/collision; flooding; and capsize. Shipstrike/collision was ruled out because the Coast Guard investigation showed no "large vessel traffic in the area of the sinking over a period of time." Flooding was deemed unlikely but possible - unlikely because "engine room flooding would have been gradual ... would have activated the bilge alarm ... and ... would have impacted the performance of the vessel enough for the crew members to investigate.'' Flooding was considered a possibility because several surveys had cited leaky rudder post packing and a corroded lazarette cover. However, there was no more recent information available to suggest that the lazarette hatch was or was not watertight. That left capsize as the most probable reason for the sinking. No stability report had ever been conducted on the 52' steel-hulled dragger. In fact, only vessels over 79' are currently required to have a stability report. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Environmental Exposure Hunting Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Staff Development Workplace
• Keywords:
  Equipment Maintenance Equipment Reliability Exposure Levels Fishing Fishing Industry Injuries Personal Protection Personal Protective Equipment PPE Risk Factors Safety Culture Safety Education Safety Equipment Safety Measures Training Work Environment Workers

  More +
• ISSN:
  0273-6713
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20062865
• Citation:
  Commercial Fish News 2008 Mar; :1C, 7C
• Contact Point Address:
  Ann Backus, MS, Director of Outreach, Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston MA
• Email:
  abackus@hohp.harvard.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2008
• Performing Organization:
  Harvard School of Public Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Commercial Fisheries News
• End Date:
  20280630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1eb8a08859b50681635e0ae17b7f722b62877ce2a96351398aa1a9a77f9c7d70dfdd57b73d651ac0b4044b23a881f824e7a9105ee128d575e48c2c78aa655fbf
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/226039/cdc_226039_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 279.66 KB ]