Cruise Ship Law

SAN DIEGO - Alan DeWeese says his lights were on when a Coast Guard boat rammed his 26-foot Sea Ray, killing his 8-year-old son and injuring five others on board.

The lights are just one reason witnesses and survivors are struggling to understand why the Coast Guard boat crashed into the packed recreational boat Sunday night at the 38th annual San Diego Bay Parade of Lights, a popular showcase for boats decked in Christmas lights.

DeWeese had borrowed his father's boat and invited two other families to watch the parade on its 5-mile route past downtown skyscrapers and the famed Coronado Bridge. The 33-foot Coast Guard patrol boat, meanwhile, was responding to a report of a grounded vessel.

"It seemed like it was going full speed when it hit," said Barbara Maloney, who watched from her 6th-floor hotel room. "We didn't notice them slow down at all. I assume they didn't see it."

The Coast Guard has not yet provided answers. It expressed condolences to the DeWeese family Monday and said three probes were under way. The National Transportation Safety Board sent investigators to San Diego, and the Coast Guard and San Diego Harbor Police also are investigating.

"We look forward to discovering what the facts were," Capt. Thomas Farris, commander of the Coast Guard's San Diego sector, told reporters Monday.

There were 13 people aboard the DeWeese boat Sunday. Anthony Cole DeWeese, 8, died in the crash. Two other children were injured and taken to Rady Children's Hospital, and three adults were transported to University of California, San Diego Medical Center, Fire Department spokesman Maurice Luque said.

None of the five people on the Coast Guard boat were injured.

Bob Furry was watching from his hotel room when he said he saw a boat blaze across the bay with a flashing blue light.

"We said, 'Jeez, it's going really fast.' We thought it was some kind of hot-dogger," he said.

Alan DeWeese turned around, but it was too late. He estimates the Coast Guard boat was traveling 35 mph to 45 mph and that he was moving no faster than 3 1/2 mph.

"I thought, why is he going so fast? I figured he was going to turn at some point but he kept coming at us," DeWeese, 44, told The Associated Press on Monday.

"He came up so fast I didn't have time to react," DeWeese said.

Roger DeWeese said his deceased grandson had been an ice hockey goalie.

"He was a spark plug," said DeWeese, who was not on the boat during the crash. "He liked just about everything."

The boy's father, also a hockey player, said his son enjoyed life to the fullest.

During the parade in San Diego Sunday, boaters festooned their decks with Christmas lights. In keeping with this year's theme, "Christmas at the Zoo," some participants dressed up as giraffes and pandas.

There were about 80 boats in this year's parade, from a 12-foot canoe to a 157-foot yacht.

The parade drew about 80,000 people on Dec. 13 and again Sunday, said Ron Sheehan, vice chairman.

Associated Press Writer Greg Risling in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Two brothers died early Saturday morning when a 23-foot Bayliner slammed into their 21-foot Hewes near Dinner Key, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Charles W. Clayton, 32, and Wade A. Clayton, 33, were killed in the crash, FWC spokeswoman Gabriella Ferraro said.

The crash happened just before midnight Friday about two miles south of Dinner Key and about a mile out from shore.

Wade Clayton was a professional fisherman and his brother was also an experienced angler, said their mother, Joyce Clayton.

"It was a tragic accident and I love and miss them dearly," said Joyce Clayton, standing in the driveway of her Kendall home, her eyes red with tears. "I just can't beleive they're gone."

Ferraro said the impact tossed the two brothers and 31-year-old passenger Brandon P. Foster from the Hewes.

The collision also tossed overboard one of the passengers on the Bayliner, according to Fire Rescue spokesperson Lt. Ignatius Carroll.

After the impact, the 23-foot boat came around, the passenger tossed off the boat was able to swim back and that's when they started hearing cries for help, Carroll said. They pulled one survivor out but he was not breathing.

"They made a desperate attempt to revive him but were unsuccessful," Carroll said.

Alan Almond, the Clayton brothers' step-father, said Charles Clayton, of Palmetto Bay, was found at the crash site and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The two passengers aboard the Bayliner called rescuers and made several attempts to fire off flares but their flare gun wasn't working, said Carroll. The GPS coordinates they gave rescuers were innaccurate, he said.

Wade Clayton, of Plantation Key, was found over an hour later by a Miami-Dade fire boat and was pronounced dead, Almond and Carroll said.

Foster was taken to Mercy Hospital with unknown injuries, Ferraro said.

Burt Korpela, owner of Atlantis Marine Towing & Salvage, said he heard the call over the radio and went to the site of the crash.

Debris was scattered everywhere and marine patrol and divers were searching for bodies when Korpela arrived.

"The boat was all ripped apart. The steering station was ripped right out and there was a big crunch on the top deck," said Korpela, 38. "I saw the bodies. This was kind of a gory sight."

Almond said the two brothers were experienced fishermen who had travelled to Costa Rica, Mexico, and the Caribbean on fishing trips. They had gone out fishing for bait they planned to use on a future fishing trip.

The men on the 23-foot Bayliner had gone out to help friends having boat problems when the collision occured, Ignatius said. "The odds were 50 million to 1," said Almond. "They were one of the only boats out there."

The 46-year-old driver of the Bayliner, Paudides Machado, had not been charged in the crash as of 11 a.m. Saturday.

"At this point we don't know if charges will be filed," Ferraro said. "We don't know if anyone was speeding or if alcohol was involved."

Wade Clayton is survived by his 5-year-old son, Caiden, who was celebrating his birthday in New York City on the same day his father died.

Both brothers are survived by their father Charles Clayton Sr., mother Joyce, and brothers Chad and Colby.

The cruise line industry endorsed proposed federal rules requiring peepholes on cabin doors, though many ships already have them.

The cruise ship industry has agreed to new safety rules making it easier to find out who's knocking at a cabin door.

A federal bill mandating peepholes and safety latches for passenger cabins won the backing of the Cruise Lines International Association this week, a rare concession from an industry known to oppose new regulations from Washington.

"It is an historic development," said Kendall Carver, president of International Cruise Victims, a leading critic of ocean liner safety records.

While peepholes and latches are commonplace in hotels, the devices aren't standard on cruise ships. Closing that gap became a top priority of cruise line critics after a series of well-publicized disappearances and crimes on ocean liners in recent years.

Industry backers characterized the controversy as an over-reaction, saying the isolated environs of a ship are far safer than hotels and other vacation options.

But Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., pushed for tougher safety rules for ships that typically operate out of U.S. ports but are registered in other countries.

In a letter to Kerry, Terry Dale, president of the Fort Lauderdale-based cruise lines association, also endorsed a provision in the bill requiring operators to quickly report serious crimes that occur on ships, train medical personnel on sexual-assault examinations and keep a log of minor incidents such as theft.

But Dale hinged his support on Kerry dropping another provision of his bill that would let families of victims of cruise ship deaths sue operators for pain and suffering. Current admirality law only allows them to sue for lost wages and funeral expenses for an incident on the high seas. Kerry's office could not say late Tuesday afternoon whether the senator would accept the compromise.

The Kerry-sponsored Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2009 would bring changes to the cabins of many passengers. A draft of the bill requires peepholes for all existing ships and also safety latches for vessels built after the law takes effect.

Carnival Corp., the world's largest cruise operator, already has peepholes on its doors, as does Royal Caribbean, its biggest rival, media representatives said Tuesday.

Royal Caribbean said its doors do not have latches, while a Carnival spokeswoman could not give a definitive answer Tuesday afternoon. Norwegian Cruise Line has door latches but not peepholes, a spokeswoman said.

Stewart Chiron, who runs the website cruiseguy.com, dismissed the proposed law, saying it doesn't address the causes of most shipboard incidents: drunken passengers falling off ships and socializing with crew members away from supervised areas of the ships.

"None of these incidents were a result of not having these safety measures," he said.

Our renowned team of lawyers has extensive experience representing persons injured in boating accidents. If you have been searching for a boating accident attorney, Lipcon, Margulies & Alsina, P.A. is your greatest resource for boating accident litigation information.
Boating Accident Attorney or Lawyer

Accidents typically deal with accidents on pleasure craft rather than commercial vessels. These would include personal water craft (commonly referred to as "wave runners" or "jet skis") which account for a large percentage of boating accidents. These accidents can also involve water activities such as water skiing, parasailing, diving, and fishing. If the accident occurs on navigable waters then admiralty and maritime law could apply. If the accident occurs on non-navigable waters (such as a small lake) then the laws of the state where the accident occurred would apply.

Maritime and Admiralty Law often deal with the application of law to events that occur on navigable waters. If you or someone you love has been involved in a boating accident we invite you to speak directly with one of our highly qualified boating accident lawyers. For more information regarding our boating accident attorney services and qualifications please feel free to contact us.

Take a look at some of our verdicts and settlements in this area and let us put our experience to work for you.

TAMPA, FL -- Six members of an extended family remain hospitalized after their pleasure boat exploded Saturday afternoon.

Florida Fish and Wildlife officials say 11 family members were aboard the 33-foot, twin engine boat when it exploded and burned to the waterline Saturday afternoon while anchored in 3 feet of water off what's known as Beer Can Island.

Six family members, including one child, were seriously injured and flown to Tampa General Hospital.

Officials identified the injured as the boat's operator, George Meyer, his wife Nancy, of Apollo Beach; 7-year-old Logan Meyer, 36-year-old Angela Meyer of Denver, Iowa, and Carrie Atherton and her husband Mike of Lutz.

"We've got a range from smoke inhalation all the way up to some burns and some very serious injuries to at least two of the people," Florida Fish and Wildlife spokesman Major Don Post said.

A spokeswoman for Tampa General Hospital said the family had asked that their conditions be kept private.

Five other children were treated for smoke inhalation. Three other family members were wading in the nearby water and weren't hurt.

Captain Mark Bogush of Tampa Fire Rescue says the explosion blew some people into the water, where they were helped by others who were boating nearby.

The cause of the explosion remains unknown.

Morse said the boat's twin engines were not operating at the time, although a gasoline generator was. It's believed a buildup of fumes in the bilge area may have caused the explosion.

The family left Apollo Beach around 10:30 a.m. and had docked at Pine Key, which is also called Beer Can Island, a popular place for boaters to anchor.

"Six children were forward watching a movie, five adults were in the aft portion of the vessel and three others were wading 30 feet from the boat when there was an explosion in the rear portion of the vessel," Morse said.

Other boaters and authorities -- including the U.S. Coast Guard and emergency crews from nearby MacDill Air Force Base -- came to the aid of the burning boat.

Brevard 8th in state in boating accidents

Three people died on Brevard County waters in 2008, but officers say a lifejacket likely would have saved their lives and the lives of most of the 51 others in Florida who died during what was supposed to be a fun day on the water.

"Seventy percent of all fatalities were not wearing their lifejackets," said Lenny Salberg, spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Despite having 226 fewer registered vessels, Brevard saw three more accidents in 2008 than in 2007, two more deaths, four more injuries and $29,500 more in damage, according to 2008 state statistics released this week.

The county had one accident for every 1,486 registered vessels in 2008, ranking it the eighth worst in Florida.

All of Brevard's three fatalities happened on the Indian River Lagoon, two in one incident. None of the three people were wearing lifejackets.

On May 5, 2008, Thomas and Margaret Donnelly, both 69 and from Rockledge, were trying to dock at Valencia Road and Rockledge Drive. Margaret Donnelly fell overboard as she was walking toward the bow of their 30-foot boat to help with the docking.

Her husband tried to throw her dock lines, but then "accidentally ran over her, causing severe propeller injuries," the commission's incident report said.

Thomas Donnelly then dove into the lagoon. His wife drowned, and he was overcome by choppy waters and exhaustion as he tried to save her, police said. He died after three days in the intensive care unit.

Late Sunday, Nov. 23, Jonathan S.E. Waters, 31, of Merritt Island launched a borrowed 12-foot-long canoe from the end of Pine Island Road on Merritt Island. He was going fishing but never returned.

His lifejacket and overturned canoe were found floating near where he had launched.

On Dec. 3, a friend found Waters facedown in 18 inches of water, 10 feet from the Indian River banks. Waters was a father of three and a former lifeguard.

Airboat incident

While fewer boats go there, the St. Johns River's narrow, bending channels proved perilous on July 21. Two airboats -- one with two occupants, another with three -- collided that day as they approached a narrow trail called Sweetwater Canal.

Everyone survived, but there were severe injuries, including cuts, broken bones and internal bruising.

Officers cited both airboat operators -- one a water management district employee who was on duty with the passenger of the boat -- for allegedly not maintaining a safe speed, an insufficient number of personal floatation devices and other safety violations.

Both were charged with second-degree misdemeanors of breaking navigation rules. Both have pleaded not guilty. They are due in court on June 10.

Water management officials said no disciplinary action has been taken by the district against the employee involved and declined to comment further.

Accident this year

Brevard's most recent boating accident took the life of a retired Orlando police officer who had organized an outing that included a Boy Scout troop from Orlando, all with special needs. They were to go fishing and eat lunch on a spoil island. The group launched on April 17 from Bairs Cove at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

As the boat approached the spoil island, the retired officer dove into the water to save a 16-year-old boy who either fell or jumped from his boat, according to the wildlife commission's report.

The teen's mother drove the boat back to pick them up, jumped in to help her son to the boat's edge, then swam for the man. He was facedown in the water and later died in the hospital.

"He would have lived if he had been wearing his lifejacket," said Salberg, the commission spokesman.

Everyone survived, but there were severe injuries, including cuts, broken bones and internal bruising.
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Officers cited both airboat operators -- one a water management district employee who was on duty with the passenger of the boat -- for allegedly not maintaining a safe speed, an insufficient number of personal floatation devices and other safety violations.

Both were charged with second-degree misdemeanors of breaking navigation rules. Both have pleaded not guilty. They are due in court on June 10.

Water management officials said no disciplinary action has been taken by the district against the employee involved and declined to comment further.
Accident this year

Brevard's most recent boating accident took the life of a retired Orlando police officer who had organized an outing that included a Boy Scout troop from Orlando, all with special needs. They were to go fishing and eat lunch on a spoil island. The group launched on April 17 from Bairs Cove at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

As the boat approached the spoil island, the retired officer dove into the water to save a 16-year-old boy who either fell or jumped from his boat, according to the wildlife commission's report.

The teen's mother drove the boat back to pick them up, jumped in to help her son to the boat's edge, then swam for the man. He was facedown in the water and later died in the hospital.

"He would have lived if he had been wearing his lifejacket," said Salberg, the commission spokesman.

The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has released the boating accident occur when someone isn’t paying attention or is driving too fast. Cates cautions boaters to slow down and stay alert to their surroundings.

Drowning is the leading cause of boating fatalities, even though most of the victims reportedly knew how to swim.

“The greatest way to ensure that you and your passengers make it home at the end of the day is to get into the habit of wearing a life jacket,” Cates said.

He also said boaters should be especially careful when consuming alcoholic beverages.

The FWC also suggests that if going offshore, boaters should invest in an Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon so rescuers can find them promptly in the event of trouble.

“We want boaters to have fun and return home safely,” Cates said.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The National Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation of the fatal power boat accident that killed five people and injured nine on Florida's east coast.

"We are looking at the man, the machine and the environment," NTSB member Deborah A.P. Hersman said at a Monday afternoon briefing.

Hersman revealed that there were 14 people in the 22-foot power boat that crashed into the rear of the tug at about 7 p.m. Sunday near Palm Valley in St. Johns County, about 25 miles southeast of Jacksonville. Investigators had earlier said 12 people were aboard the boat.

The NTSB is working with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the U.S. Coast Guard and the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office.

NTSB investigators will look over evidence collected by local authorities and interview witnesses and crash survivors.

Hersman said the NTSB doesn't investigate many boating accidents, but said this case with five fatalities and nine injuries met the agency's criteria for a serious accident that warranted special attention.

"Our investigations are very comprehensive and we leave no stone unturned," she said.

The primary focus is to learn lessons that can be applied to prevent future accidents, Hersman said.

Six accident victims are being treated Shands Jacksonville hospital. Two were in critical condition Monday, one was in serious condition and three were in fair condition. Authorities have not said where the other three survivors were being treated.

Debi Davis and her husband Herb, who live near the accident scene, watched as rescuers pulled the victims from a narrow section of the waterway.

"You could hear screaming as they pulled one woman out on a gurney board," Davis said.

Visibility was clear when the power boat hit the tug, but Davis said she was surprised by the amount of damage and the death toll.

"I don't know how they could have missed it, the tug is hard to miss," she said.

Davis said the waterway is usually busy on Sundays.

The five killed all died at the scene, said Joy Hill, a spokeswoman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. They were identified as Jacqueline R. Allen, 44, of Jacksonville; Robert Trenton Craig, 23, of Jacksonville Beach; Elizabeth L. Rosenfeld, 20, of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.; Inmaculada Pierce, 42, of Orange Park, Fla.; and Olivia Rose Carretero, 23, of South Lake Tahoe, Calif.

The injured were identified as Justin Thomas Moore, 23, Melvin D. Bethel, 37, and Jacqueline M. Collins, 23, all of Ponte Vedra Beach; Karey Rae Cavicchioli, 19, and Britney Nicole Joyce, 19, both of Jacksonville Beach; and Jaimie A. Hole, 22, and Amanda Barton, 22, both of Santa Rosa, Calif. Authorities also said that Josh Moore, 19, and Frank Moore, age unknown, both from California, hometown unknown, survived.

"Investigators are looking at anything that may have caused this," Hill said. That includes the speed and capacity of the boat, lighting conditions and whether alcohol may have been a factor.

Investigators have been tightlipped about what they have learned.

Chuck Mulligan, a spokesman for the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office, said deputies and paramedics had to scramble to find construction material to build a bridge to the victims on the pier under construction.

"They did this knowing time was critical and once medical treatment was given those patients, they would be need to be brought off the crash site and on the makeshift dock," Mulligan said.

The hapless cruise ship MSC Fantasia is back in Palma after a two week voyage to the Western Mediterranean.

The Italian owned MSC Cruises launched the 133,500-ton cruise liner Fantasia in December 2008. With capacity for 3,300 passengers the boat is one of the largest cruise ships around, I believe. Sadly, when the vessel docked in Palma two weeks ago there was an unfortunate incident with the cruise ship snapping away from the port wall in Palma’s harbour in windy gusts of up to 110 km per hour. The mishap caused an accident resulting in serious injuries to an 80 year old cruise passenger who had to be treated in the Intensive Care Unit of a Palma hospital.

The 333 metre-long vessel is mighty big with its 12 storeys. Apart from its passenger capacity, there are 1,325 crew members on board as well.

Special deals are now on offer in the UK for Inside Cabins at £ 699 and for Balcony Cabins at £ 799 per person, including flights from the UK to Genoa (Italy). A cruise at that price is for 7 nights in April, calling at Naples, Palermo, La Goulette (for Tunis), Palma de Mallorca, Barcelona and Marseille. Whether or not one could join the cruise here in Palma, I do not know.

You may or may not have heard about the sinking of MV Dive Asia 1 a few days ago. This is the liveaboard boat based in Phuket that we were on recently. We featured this trip in our first few FiNS TV clips.

Given that we’re in Lembeh, it’s taken some time to get accurate information. We felt that it was best to refrain from posting anything about this accident until we had something worthwhile to post.

Below is a statement direct from the owners of the boat. Clearly, this is a tragic turn of events, and our heartfelt sympathy and support go out to all concerned.

For obvious reasons, we will discontinue our FiNS TV posts relating to MV Dive Asia 1.

From Juergen, Benno and the entire Dive Asia Team

With a sad heart we read all the wrong information about the sinking of the MV Dive Asia I in the media and in the internet. Even here in Phuket we hear a lot of speculation that is untrue, and we would like to take this opportunity to give you the facts as of today.

On the 8th of March at about 5:30PM the MV Dive Asia departed from the Similan Islands in perfect weather conditions for a routine return to Phuket. Great visibility, very light winds with no noticeable waves.

10:26PM: A guest sent an SMS to her family telling them that she was already on the way back to Phuket, where she would disembark in the morning, and that the weather had been perfect with no rain during the entire trip.

10:50PM: After entering a sudden thunderstorm, the boat was hit by a vortex and capsized. There were no high waves. The wind was why the boat capsized. This happened so quickly and without warning that not even an alarm could be sounded. On board were 30 people:

8 Thai Crew
3 Dive Guides
19 Guests of various nationalities

The boat sank within one minute, but 23 of the 30 people on board were able to leave the sinking ship. The two life rafts on board deployed, and after a while, all 23 people were able to get on the life rafts.

The survivors searched for the missing people, but could not find anybody. After about 45 minutes the sea was calm again, and the life rafts drifted. Two sailing boats passed close to the life rafts, but did not respond to the red signal flares fired.

March 9th 8:00AM
Benno Brandon arrived at Chalong Pier in order to meet the boat and greet the guests, and also to have breakfast with them before they disembarked. Arriving at the end of the pier, he saw that the boat was not there.

After calling all the boat’s numbers and trying to contact the boat by radio, he contacted his partner Juergen Schenker to check if there was any information about why the boat arrival back to port was delayed.

Realizing that something was wrong, we notified the authorities through our Thai Manager Ms. Wimonrat Bangthao at around 8:30AM. We then started our own search for the boat by speed boat and also from land from the top of a nearby mountain.

Our last contact with the boat had been around 10:00PM, and the boat had been between the airport and Patong beach at the time. The authorities started a search also, but with no result.

March 9th around 1:00PM
The Dive Asia office received a call from tour leader Daniel Brunner, who is one of the survivors. He called from a fisherman’s mobile phone to inform us of his location, and that 23 survivors had been picked up by a local fisherman. We notified the authorities, and a Thai Marine Police boat went to pick up the survivors.

The 23 people arrived at 4:30PM in the deep seaport in Ao Makham. They were exhausted, dehydrated and sunburned, with minor scraps and cuts, but none of the survivors had major injuries.

Missing at the time were:
1 Thai National (our cook)
1 Japanese (Guest)
3 Austrians (Guest)
2 Swiss (Guest)

It was wrongly reported that some of the missing guests were German.

March 10th
The search for the missing 7 people continued. The body of one person was found and returned to Ao Makham.

The approximate location where the boat sunk was pinpointed near Patong Beach. A dive team from Deep Blue checked the location and found debris confirming that the wreck was close, but did not locate the wreck itself. The depth is in the area is around 70 meters. Later that night, the Thai Navy identified two possible locations and wrongly assumed that the wreck was broken in half.

March 11th
The search for the still missing six persons continued. Joerg and Andreas from Deep Blue and Ben from the SSS chamber made a dive to confirm the location of the wreck, as well as to check the wreck to determine how many guests might still remain on board.

They found four people still in their cabins, but due to the depth of the wreck and time restraints, recovery was not possible at the time.

The search for the still missing two people continued. The missing were our Thai cook and a guest from Japan.

March 12th
A dive team consisting of Joerg and Andres from Deep Blue, Ben from the SSS Chamber and Mathew from Pro Tech Diving college made a dive and recovered the four people found the day before, and also search the boat further for the two still missing people. They found the Japanese guest and returned to the surface. The Thai Marine Police returned the remains to Ao Makam.

The search for our missing cook continued.

March 13th
The dive team made a further search of the boat and the surrounding waters, but were unable to locate our missing cook. Personal effects of the people on board were recovered. While the dive team was still in decompression, we were informed that a search helicopter spotted a body in the water 22 miles south of the wreck location. A police boat was dispatched. In the evening we were informed that the recovered body was our missing cook.

Everyone on board was accounted for. We are very sad and distraught over this tragedy. Our hearts are with the families of the deceased, and we grieve with them.

Many of you expressed your support for us, and we are very thankful for this. It is heartwarming to have Mona come by our office with big bag of sandwiches because you don’t have time to eat, or to hear that Rene from Sea Fun Divers had been filling 50% oxygen bottles for Ben in the dive team free of charge. Also others like Franz of Blue Dolphin deserve our special thanks for organizing and conducting their own search for the missing.

FoxNews.com

Four passengers had to be rescued from the sea after the cruise ship they were boarding was ripped from its mooring in high winds, pitching the gangway into the water.

The incident happened as passengers tried to board the MSC cruise ship, Fantasia, in Palma, Majorca. It was part-way through a Mediterranean cruise.

Video footage shows the passengers swimming for their lives after gusts of up to 110km per hour snapped the ropes holding the ship fast.

One passenger was treated for head injuries, and all four had hypothermia.

Another expedition ship has run aground in the frigid waters of Antarctica.

Quark Expeditions' 68-passenger Ocean Nova is stuck in Antarctica's Marguerite Bay, west of Debenham Island and near the Argentine research station San Martin.

An initial report on the incident released by Quark Expeditions indicates there is no imminent danger to the ship or passengers. "There is no sign of leakage of any kind from the vessel," the report adds.

The grounding, first reported in the English-language media by travel blogger Jeanne LeBlanc of the Hartford Courant, occurred early today.

The Quark Expeditions report says there are 65 passengers on board the ship, including 21 Americans, 17 Britons, eight Canadians, seven Australians, five South Africans and passengers from more than half a dozen other countries.

The report says the captain of the ice-strengthed Ocean Nova, Per Gravesen, attempted but failed to dislodge the vessel today at high tide, which occurred at around 1:00 PM local time, and is waiting for the next high tide tonight to try again. The report blamed "unfavorable weather conditions" for the failure.

A Spanish naval ship, the Hespedrides, is on the way to the site of the incident, as is another Quark vessel, the Clipper Adventurer. Should the second attempt at dislodging the Ocean Nova fail, Quark says it plans to transfer passengers to the Clipper Adventurer for return to Argentina and home.

The incident comes just two months after another expedition ship, the 84-passenger Ushuaia, ran aground near the entrance to Antarctica's famed Wilhelmina Bay. The Ushuaia eventually was evacuated before being freed by a Chilean tugboat.

Originally built in 1992 to navigate the ice-choked waters of Western Greenland, the 2,118-ton Ocean Nova is one of several dozen small expedition ships that operate adventure cruises to Antarctica each year during the brief Antarctic summer -- the period between November and March when the ice around the continent melts back enough to allow visits.

The often-spartan voyages appeal to well-heeled adventurers from around the globe who pay $4,000 per person or more for the chance to see one of the most remote and untrammeled regions on Earth, and they have grown in popularity in recent years. But several other recent incidents have raised concerns about the trips.

Just last year two expedition vessels, G.A.P. Adventures' Explorer and Hurtigruten's Fram, were damaged by icebergs. The Explorer eventually sank.

Crash Occurred During Routine Work Done by Spirit of Washington's Crew

The Spirit of Washington cruise boat struck the District's main fireboat yesterday while the latter vessel was docked, gashing a 15-foot-hole in the fireboat and disabling it for the foreseeable future, fire officials said.

No passengers were aboard the 600-person cruise boat, and no one was injured in the 2 p.m. incident along Pier 4 at Sixth and Water streets SW, authorities said.

The accident occurred as the four-person crew of the Spirit of Washington performed a routine maneuver to reposition the ship alongside the pier, said Sal Naso, vice president and general manager of Spirit Cruises.

"They were just turning it around," Naso said. "It's done a thousand times a year. . . . We're obviously going to take care of the fire department."

Naso said damage to the cruise boat was minimal. The company substituted another boat, the Spirit of Mount Vernon, for its scheduled dinner cruise.

Alan Etter, spokesman for the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, said the damage to the 70-foot John Glenn was "considerable." The gash was on the starboard side, above the water line, and will have to be fixed before the fireboat can be returned to service, he said.

He described the vessel as "a very necessary part of the department."

"It's a big deal to lose it," Etter said.

The John Glenn can pump 7,000 gallons of water a minute and is the city's only vessel with icebreaking capabilities, Etter said. It was instrumental in battling a blaze three years ago on the water in which three yachts caught fire, Etter said.

Naso and Etter said it was too early to determine what had gone wrong, although both said there had been reports of strong gusts of wind on the river. The U.S. Coast Guard was investigating the accident.

The District has had the John Glenn since 1978. It was returned to the department five years ago after a two-year refurbishing effort. All three of the boat's engines were replaced, and new electronics were added, Etter said.

USA TODAY

Another small expedition ship that caters to adventurers has run aground in Antarctica.

The 84-passenger Ushuaia, an ice-strengthened vessel that spends five months a year in the region, was near the entrance to Antarctica's famed Wilhelmina Bay when the accident occurred, a spokesman for the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators tells USA TODAY.

No one was injured in the grounding but the ship's officers plan to move passengers to another vessel before they try to "refloat" the Ushuaia -- i.e. move it from where it is stuck.

"An initial assessment of damage indicated that while there was no imminent danger and no threat to life, it would be precautionary to transfer passengers to another vessel," the Association says in a situation report sent to USA TODAY. Still, they added, the ship is stable.

Another expedition ship, the Antarctic Dream, was seven miles away when the incident occurred and already has arrived on the scene. Several other ice-strengthed expedition ships including the National Geographic Explorer, Professor Multanovskiy and Polar Star also are nearby and have offered assistance should it be needed.

Several Chilean Naval vessels also are en route, and the Association, which has been in contact with the Ushuaia's crew, says the crew plans to transfer passengers to the Chilean Naval vessel Achiles on Friday.

The Association says the Ushuaia leaked a small amount of light oil when it ran aground, but the leak has since been sealed and oil barriers have been deployed to contain further spills.

EXPEDITION REPORT: Gene Sloan's multi-media diary of sailing to Antarctica in 2003

Originally built for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 1970, the 2,923-ton Ushuaia is one of several dozen small expedition ships that operate adventure cruises to Antarctica each year during the brief Antarctic summer -- the period between November and March when the ice around the continent melts back enough to allow visits.

The often-spartan voyages, which appeal to well-heeled adventurers from around the globe who pay $4,000 per person or more for the chance to see one of the most remote and untrammeled regions on Earth, have grown in popularity in recent years. But several recent incidents also have raised concerns about the trips, which offer the chance to see everything from giant icebergs to penguins and whales.

Just last year two expedition vessels, G.A.P. Adventures' Explorer and Hurtigruten's Fram, were damaged by icebergs. The Explorer eventually sank.

The IAATO situation report on the incident says the Ushuaia was sailing nearly full with 82 passengers on board, including 12 Americans, 2 Canadians, 11 Australians and 7 residents of the United Kingdom. Passengers from nearly a dozen other countries including The Netherlands, Germany, Italy and China also are on board.

Have you taken an expedition cruise to Antarctica? Tell us about it below.

UPDATE, Friday, 10:00 AM ET: The Chilean Navy says passengers on the Ushuaia have been safely transferred to one of its ships, the Achiles, and will be taken to an airstrip on nearby King George Island to be flown back to Argentina and, eventually, home.

According to the 2007 California Boating Safety Report, 39 of the 55 victims who died in state boating accidents were not wearing life jackets. The Department of Boating and Waterways (Cal Boating) report provides data about boating accidents, injuries and deaths reported in 2007.

"Life jacket use is critical to safe boating," said Cal Boating director Raynor Tsuneyoshi. "All boaters, including anglers, are urged to always wear life jackets and to refrain from drinking alcoholic beverages while on board a vessel. Information from the 2007 report will help us better target our education efforts to stress these messages."

Of the fatalities outlined in the report, 19 were fishing-related and 20 involved alcohol. Thirtynine victims drowned.

In 2007, 804 boating accidents occurred in California, ranking it first among all states, followed by Florida, which had 668. Florida is the only state with more boating fatalities, 77, and more registered recreational vessels, 1,027,043. There are 964,881 registered recreational vessels in California.

The statistics in the report reflect every reported boating accident in California in 2007. Although Cal Boating believes that all accidents involving fatalities were reported, many nonfatal accidents are never reported to Cal Boating or law enforcement agencies due to noncompliance with, or ignorance of, the reporting law.

State law requires boaters involved in accidents to file a written report with Cal Boating when a person dies, disappears or requires medical attention beyond first aid. A report is also required when an accident results in damage to a vessel or other property exceeding $500 or there is a complete loss of a vessel.

Boaters can find a printable California Boating Accident Report form at www.dbw.ca.gov/ PDF/AccidentForms/.

To view the entire boating safety report, visit the website at www.dbw.ca.gov.

CAIRO (AFP) — Scuffles erupted at an Egyptian court on Sunday when five of six defendants were cleared of blame for a 2006 ferry sinking in which more than 1,000 people died, Egypt's worst maritime disaster.

Hysterical relatives voiced anger as only Salaheddin Gomaa, captain of another ferry, the Saint Catherine, was jailed for six months for failing to come to the assistance of the Al-Salam Boccaccio 98.

Public prosecutor Abdel Meguid Mahmud issued a statement after the decision saying he would appeal the ruling, and called for a retrial.

The Al-Salam sank in the middle of the Red Sea on February 3, 2006 as it was carrying more than 1,400 people from Saudi Arabia to the Egyptian port of Safaga, where the trial was held.

"My brother, my brother," one woman screamed after the verdict, according to footage aired on Al-Jazeera television which also showed security men scuffling with relatives and another woman being manhandled.

Dozens of relatives, many carrying photographs of their dead loved ones, were crammed into the court building, although the heavy security presence prevented them from entering the courtroom itself.

Others wailed in grief on the steps outside. "God help us, 1,034 people are dead!" shouted one man.

Most of the victims were from poor families in southern Egypt, and the court scenes were reminiscent of the emotional outpourings in the days following the sinking as anxious relatives waited in vain for bodies to be recovered.

"The day of the accident everybody saw that the ship was in bad shape and two years later they say the boat was in good shape. It doesn't make sense," one man told Al-Jazeera.

"This is awful. My wife and children died and after two years everyone responsible is found to be innocent," he said, slamming some of the defendants for leaving the country pending the court's ruling.

Prosecutor Mahmud said he wanted a retrial because of "violations in documented records, corruption in investigation, shortcomings in validatings and arbitrary conclusions," Egypt's official MENA news agency reported.

The court found that Gomaa had failed to show "compassion" and "did not do his duty by failing to go to the rescue of victims."

The Saint Catherine captain was also fined 10,000 Egyptian pounds (1,880 dollars).

Key defendant Mamduh Ismail, who owned the 36-year-old Al-Salam ferry and is a member of parliament's upper house which is appointed by President Hosni Mubarak, was acquitted.

In June 2006, Ismail was ordered to pay 330 million Egyptian pounds (57 million dollars) into a fund to compensate victims of the disaster and in return, a freeze on his assets was lifted.

Also accused were Ismail's son and three Al-Salam executives. Ismail, his son and one of the executives are not currently in Egypt.

In 2006, a parliamentary commission of inquiry blamed Al-Salam for the disaster, saying the firm had continued to operate the ferry "despite serious defects" in the vessel.

It also said the government "failed to manage the crisis adequately" in the days after the sinking.

Ismail had denied responsibility for the disaster, and blamed the captain of the Al-Salam, who went down with his ship, for overestimating the crew's ability to fight a fire that had broken out on board.

The passengers on the ferry were mostly Egyptian migrant workers, some of whom were bringing months', if not years', worth of savings to their families back home.

Todd and I were sitting in the airport in Turks & Caicos waiting to go home, and I was talking to a couple that had been on the Aggressor with us. They had met on the Belize Aggressor III, when they both worked on the ship. They no longer worked for the Aggressor Fleet, but seemed to have a lot of respect for the company. I was mentioning to them my desire to visit Belize and I asked them about the Peter Hughes boats, specifically the Tobago itinerary, which has apparently been discontinued since I was researching it. They didn't really say anything too negative about Peter Hughes, but talked for a few minutes about the Aggressor Fleet and how they had always felt that the Aggressor Fleet was top notch in safety. Honestly, I was confused by the conversation, since I really hadn't asked about safety.

Fast forward a week or two. I was researching up coming dive trips, planning to go somewhere in late fall. We had kind of decided on Belize, but I wanted to make sure I had all of the options researched. I investigated the Peter Hughes Tobago itinerary, only to see on Scubaboard someone talking about reading No Safe Harbor before going on a Peter Hughes boat.

Ohhh kayyy...

I looked up No Safe Harbor and saw it was about the Peter Hughes boat Wave Dancer, and that it had sunk somehow. I researched the Wave Dancer, found a bunch of articles about it, and decided not to research the Tobago itinerary again. No Peter Hughes boats for us. I bought the book used off of Amazon for $3 and decided to check it out.

The Wave Dancer was a Diving live aboard boat operating out of Belize. In October 2001, the Richmond Dive Club scheduled a trip to Belize, and part of the group would stay on the Wave Dancer and the rest on the Belize Aggressor III.* As Hurricane Iris, a category 4 storm, approached Belize, both boats took refuge in Big Creek with all of their passengers aboard. As they rode out the storm, the Wave Dancer broke free of its moorings, hit the Belize Aggressor, and drifted out into the lagoon. It listed and finally capsized, killing all passengers except three and many of the crew. Peter Hughes attributed the accident to a freak occurrence. The book, and many witness accounts, say otherwise. No one has taken even partial responsibility for the accident, even though it seems clear that the Captain and to some extent Peter Hughes, were responsible.

This was a scary book for me. I'm accustomed to reading about dive accidents, it's been a hobby of mine for a while now. I read about them and analyze what the diver did wrong and could have done to prevent the accident. In turn, this makes me a better diver and more apt to know what to do when an emergency situation happens to me. This book, though, isn't truly a dive accident. I can't say that the divers on board reacted wrongly in any way. They simply trusted the crew to know what to do during a dangerous storm, and expected the captain's opinion to be correct. I, too, would have assumed that the captain knew better than me. He's a professional. Needless to say, this book really got me thinking about what sort of danger I put myself in when I'm on a live aboard, how trusting I should be with my life, and what I can do to prevent this from happening to me.

My thoughts...

* There are a lot of live aboard operators out there. Choose carefully. Find out about safety in advance, and make that a priority.
* When you're on a live aboard, you don't have access to television, newspapers, internet or phones. You are 100% cut off from the world and all information will come from the crew. In the event of a storm, go ahead and get the ship's email and contact someone at home who can give you information.
* Consider when you plan your trip and realize that planning a trip in hurricane season is a risk. Watch the weather reports before you leave and think about what you would do if you were stranded where you are going. This tragedy happened in Belize, a third world country, and for that reason, the passengers were not eager to leave the ship and go to a shelter. By the time they reached Big Creek (just a couple hours ahead of the storm), the surrounding resorts and hotels had been evacuated and all that remained was a storm shelter in a bank.
* Remember that ships flagged in countries other than the US do not have to be up to US Coast Guard standards. Inspectors post-accident found the safety of the ship lacking, and the long-range radio did not even work during the trip.
* Trust your instincts and if something feels wrong, it might be. Question your captain. There were passengers who knew a little something about boats and knew that it would be potentially unsafe to have the boat tied up as it was. When it was moored in Big Creek, it was sticking out into the channel and vulnerable to the storm surge. The Aggressor was tied up better and people noticed, but still trusted the captain.
* Usually on a live aboard, you're barefoot and casual, but if you're riding out a storm, have your life jacket and shoes on. None of the bodies recovered from the Wind Dancer were wearing life jackets or shoes.
* If you are in a storm, keep your dive light on you. In fact, keep a flashlight available in your room at all times. In the event of a fire or flood, you can find your way out easier. Divers usually have flashlights with them for night dives. Todd and I had no fewer than 5 with us on the Aggressor, but all of them were up on the dive deck.
* Listen to safety instructions. I admit, the explanation of where the escape routes were when we were in Turks & Caicos went in one ear and out the other. Although, to their credit, the crew placed a map of the escape routes on our bed after it was made up each morning.

Will I continue to go on live aboards? Of course. Just not Peter Hughes. I'll be careful to choose my ships wisely and continue reading Scubaboard and Undercurrent for my diving information.

As for a review of the book itself, it was well-written, but definitely not worth reading if you're not a diver or interested in this accident. There was far too much detail about the beginning (non-eventful) part of the trip. "And then, they went up and had a rum punch on the sun deck..." We don't need to know that much detail and I ended up skimming some. It was a short, easy read, and read better than reading the government report on the subject. So, I give it a "just ok."

*To my knowledge, my friends from Turks & Caicos were not on the Belize Aggressor III during this event.

A crewman who died after running out of oxygen in a ship's ballast tank did not have the usual breathing gear, the BBC has learned.

The Filipino collapsed and died on the Saga-owned cruise ship in Southampton on Wednesday. A second man was rescued.

The pair inspected the tank without a safety officer or written permission, which is required by Saga due to the low air levels, a source told the BBC.

Police are investigating the suspicion of gross negligence.

Detectives are examining whether the men were told to enter the ballast tanks or told to inspect them from a safe distance above.

Kent-based Saga confirmed that various guidelines should be followed during the procedure.

Out-of-bounds area

These include ventilating the tanks well in advance and that anyone wanting to go inside must have written permission and be accompanied by a safety officer, as it is an out-of-bounds area.

Saga said it would not comment on whether these procedures were followed.

Spokesman Paul Green added: "A full independent investigation is currently underway and we are therefore unable to comment any further at this time."

The pair were trapped in the ballast tank, which is a compartment at the bottom of a ship holding water to control a ship's buoyancy and stability.

Water is discharged when the ship is heavily laden and then taken on again when travelling with light cargo.

The crewman, a second bosun in charge of crew and equipment, died after running out of oxygen, police have said.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said a second bosun, a ship's officer, would be aware of necessary safety procedures before entering a ballast tank.

Filipino priest Jack Padua, who was contacted at the Southampton Seafarers' Centre, spoke to the rescued man after he was released from hospital.

He said: "He was shocked and devastated. The man who died was a colleague of his."

Mr Padua added: "I went onboard to console the crew. The group have been together for 10 years working on the ship. It is like a family."

A Hampshire police spokesman added: "We have been told it is not fumes, it's lack of oxygen, fresh air in the place they were working."

Confused state

Fire crews spent more than an hour battling to save the man, who was 43 years old. His body has been recovered.

The other man, a 38-year-old, was taken to hospital in a "confused" state but later released, police said.

The vessel finally left on a 14-night cruise to the Baltic, including Amsterdam, Kiel, Riga, and St Petersburg, on Thursday evening.

The cruise ship, which holds 600 passengers, had been due to set off for a cruise at 1600 BST on Wednesday.

Passengers stayed onboard overnight and had been informed of events, Saga said.

An investigation is also being carried out by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch, which has a team of five at the scene.

Continue reading "Dead sailor had no breathing gear" »

DANGER ON THE WATER WHEN IT COMES TO BOATING DEATHS, FLORIDA AGAIN IS NO. 1 IN THE NATION
South Florida Sun - Sentinel - Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Author: Robert Nolin

Three men and a 5-year-old cram into an 8-foot boat to fish in a canal behind their Palm Beach County home. The boat capsizes; two men drown. That was in June.

Three women rent a personal watercraft along the Intracoastal Waterway in Pompano Beach. Within minutes they smash into a boatlift. One woman dies instantly. That was in July.

Such deaths, two of the 77 that occurred in state waters last year, are why Florida leads the nation in boating fatalities for the fifth consecutive year.

"It's pretty clear that Florida is first again," said Brian Rehwinkel, an analyst with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission who helped compile the 2007 statistics. "That's not where we want to be."

Last year, there were 668 boating accidents around the state, with 68 of them resulting in 77 deaths. As to be expected, populous and waterway-rich South Florida was the deadliest region, with 162 accidents and 22 fatalities in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties. Miami-Dade was No. 1 in deaths, with 13, and Monroe County had the most accidents, 74.

Florida consistently ranks at the top of maritime deaths for a simple reason, officials say. Mix together thousands of miles of coastline and waterways, a year-round boating season, and more registered vessels than any other state, and you've got a deadly formula for a grim distinction.

"Florida has always come in with, unfortunately, high fatalities," said Bruce Wright, boating safety specialist with the Coast Guard.

"It's not a big surprise," Rehwinkel said. "It's not what we want, but it's not a big surprise."

So far this year, 23 boating deaths have been tallied statewide. Nationally, according to the Coast Guard, boating deaths dropped in 2007, which saw 688 fatalities as compared with 710 in 2006.

Coast Guard figures show Florida leading the nation in 2006, with 69 deaths, followed by Texas, 47; California, 42; Michigan, 30; and Pennsylvania, 25. While confirming Florida as the fatality leader in 2007, the Coast Guard has not finished reviewing figures on other state rankings, spokeswoman Susan Tomczuk said from Washington, D.C.

Most of Florida's 2007 deaths occurred in small boats, and most victims drowned. Alcohol or drugs played a role in 22 percent. One in five victims was operating a personal watercraft, and Miami-Dade led in the number of personal watercraft accidents, with 21.

The state's boating death rate has steadily risen, as has the number of registered vessels, which now tops 1 million. The peak year was 2005, which recorded 80 deaths, followed by last year's 77.

"Seventy-seven is just unacceptable to us," said Lt. Ed Cates, assistant boating safety coordinator for the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "But if we had two, it would be too high for us."

This year's statistics show that 85 percent of the fatality victims had no boater education, so the commission sees mandatory safety courses as a way to reduce deaths on the water. It has proposed that all vessel operators take a safety course, a program it would phase in over 11 years.

Boaters who took the course would be awarded a card they must produce if stopped when operating a vessel. Currently, boaters under 21 must take the course and carry a card.

Commission officials this year asked the state Legislature to pass the education requirement, but the proposal failed. Rehwinkel said the commission will renew its push next legislative season.

"If more people received boating education, we believe there's potential to save lives," Rehwinkel said. The commission calculates there would be 25 percent fewer deaths if boaters were better educated.

Wright said maritime fatalities may never be eliminated, but can be reduced.

"It's just one of those things you've got to live with, like vehicular fatalities," he said. "But you've just got to try your best to educate people."

Sgt. Russ Budden, head of the Broward Sheriff's Office's Marine Unit, said his officers see a lack of boating savvy on the water and try to impart safety tips to boaters.

"Education is the number one thing out there with us," he said. "The more you can educate, the better."

The most common fatal accident last year was when the victim falls overboard, then drowns. Such fatalities could be sharply curtailed, safety officials say, by the simple habit of wearing a life jacket.

So for Boating Safety Week, which ends today, the commission opened a new front in its war on fatalities: a Wear It Florida campaign to persuade boaters to don life vests when on the water.

"Wear a life jacket and increase your chances out there," said Cates.

The agency will be sounding another message for boaters this Memorial Day weekend: one of enforcement.

"For the unofficial start of summer, more boats will be on the water and we are going to be out there as well," said Gabriella Ferraro, of the commission's South Florida office.

Locations, schedules and fees for boating safety courses by the Coast Guard Auxiliary are available at a href="http://www.cgaux7.org/pub-">www.cg aux7.org/pub- classes.asp.

INFORMATIONAL BOX:

2007 fatalities at a glance

Drowning - Leading cause of death.

22 - Percentage of fatalities caused by alcohol or drugs.

March - Deadliest month, followed by May and June.

$9,125,110 - Total amount of property damage from accidents.

21 - Percentage of fatality victims who were on a personal watercraft.

13 - Percentage of personal watercraft among all registered vessels.

Between noon and 8 p.m. - When most fatal accidents occurred.

17 feet or less - The length of most vessels involved in fatalities.

Source: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

INFORMATIONAL BOX:

Top 10 counties in boating deaths

County Registered vessels Accidents Fatalities

Miami-Dade 62,324 67 13

Palm Beach 44,416 52 5

Lee 50,642 32 5

Collier 24,458 18 5

Monroe 28,235 74 4

Pinellas 56,386 50 4

Broward 50,823 43 4

St. Johns 13,651 17 3

Lake 23,807 12 3

Okaloosa 20,026 17 2

*In counties where fatalities were tied, the number of accidents was used to determine ranking.

Source: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Portrait of the average victim

A look at 2007 fatal boating accidents shows the average victim:

Is male (90 percent);

Is 36 to 50 years old;

Is the owner of the boat involved;

Is operating a gas-powered open motorboat;

Has no formal boater education (85 percent);

Is a Florida resident;

Fell overboard and drowned;

Had a roughly one in five chance of alcohol or drugs in system.

Source: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Credit: By Robert Nolin Staff Writer

A man was killed and his son badly hurt, in a boating accident off the Brevard County coast.

It happened about six miles off shore from Port Canaveral.

Christopher Diaz of Oviedo was killed and his son, Christian Jensen, was badly hurt.

The two were apparently heading to shore when they collided with another boat carrying three Merritt Island men.

Diaz's boat capsized and both were thrown into the water. They were in the water for nearly a half hour before Good Samaritans and the U.S. Coast Guard arrived.

However, by then it was too late.

"You had the whole open ocean out there. The odds of two vessels hitting each other are slim to none. It's very rare that we have an accident like this take place," Lenny Salberg from the Fish and Wildlife Commission said.

So far, no one has been charged in the crash.

Central Florida News 13

A videographer and photographer shooting a boat were killed when the aircraft hit water.

By Heather Allen and Cathy Zollo
The Herald Tribune

VENICE -- A helicopter, flying low to photograph a model in a speeding Cigar Boat, plunged into the Gulf of Mexico near Casey Key on Tuesday morning, killing two photographers and injuring the pilot.

The helicopter's skids may have grazed the water, causing the aircraft to flip over and crash into calm Gulf waters about one mile offshore, said Lt. Chuck Lesaltato, spokesman for the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.

Killed were Thomas Newby, 50, of Manhattan Beach, Calif., the chief photographer for Powerboat Magazine, and Mark Copeland, 44, of North Carolina, an Emmy-winning video photographer.

The pilot, Mark A. Watters, 44, of Pasadena, Calif., was in fair condition Wednesday at Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg.

The crew was on assignment for Powerboat Magazine when the crash occurred at about 10 a.m.

Watters, who had 20 years of experience as a military helicopter pilot, was "one of the few pilots in the country capable of high speed-low altitude flying for racing photography," according to the Corona Police Department in California, where he was a member of the air support unit.

Whether flying too low caused the accident will likely be a focus for investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board, who arrived Tuesday night from Miami to take over the investigation. The investigators plan to release a preliminary report in four to five days.

The make and model of the helicopter were not released by authorities. The aircraft was not reclaimed from the murky waters in which it was submerged Tuesday. Divers from the Sheriff's Office marked off the area where the aircraft went down and will remove the wreckage today, Lesaltato said.

Dick Hendricks, executive vice president of Ehlert Publishing Group, which produces Powerboat Magazine, said the magazine has done similar photographic shoots four times a year for the past 35 years without incident.

"We haven't thought beyond canceling this one," he said. "We are working with (the NTSB) and the sheriff's department and trying to figure out what happened. Obviously, our thoughts are with the families and we are working with whatever their needs are."

One observer said Tuesday's accident gave off a loud boom that sounded like an approaching thunderstorm.

"I looked out there and saw the red boat," said Keith Warmkessel, who details cars and boats on Casey Key. "The next thing I see is the sheriff's helicopter."

While ambulances and fire engines from a number of agencies zoomed down the length of the barrier island, trying to coordinate with one another, a harrowing rescue was under way in the Gulf.

Boats from the Sarasota Police Department, the Sheriff's Office, Florida Fish and Wildlife and the Coast Guard rushed to the crash site, while the sheriff's helicopter flew overhead looking for people in the water.

As the helicopter approached, those on board could see people in the water. Deputy John Jernigan strapped on a life vest and jumped into the water to assist with the rescue mission, Lesaltato said.

The victims were rushed by boat to the Crow's Nest restaurant near the south jetty on Venice island around 10:30 a.m.

Both Newby and Copeland died by the time they reached land, Lesaltato said. Watters was airlifted to Bayfront Medical Center.

The boat's driver and a female model were not injured and authorities did not identify them Tuesday. Debris from the helicopter hit the boat, causing some damage.

Gary Robb, an attorney who specializes in helicopter crashes, said the NTSB will closely examine the aircraft after it is pulled from the water, looking for possible mechanical failures. Among those is loss of the main rotor control, engine failure and component part failure.

"The NTSB will also look at the human factors aspect, which means pilot training, pilot performance, whether or not there may have been an error committed by the pilot," said Robb, who is based in Kansas City, Mo. "There are a number of factors which the government will assess."

About 80 to 85 percent of helicopter crashes are related to human factors, and 10 to 12 percent are material failures, said Rhett Flater, executive director of the American Helicopter Society, an industry group.

The sheriff's dive team will help recover the helicopter, which could be a long and tedious mission, said Deputy Kevin Deiter, from special operations.

The water where the helicopter went down is about 20 to 30 feet deep, Deiter said.

A father who lost a daughter in a parasailing accident earlier this month in Pompano has filed a suit against those involved.

In the suit, Dennis White names Wyndham Vacation Resorts, Pompano Beach Water Sports, and boat operator Scott Kipp.

White says his daughters, Crystal and Amber White of Summerfield, Florida, were staying at Wyndham Royal Vista Resort in Pompano Beach when they decided to take advantage of the parasail operation, Pompano Beach Water Sports, offered by the resort.

As the boat head north near Pompano Beach, the winds increased from 15 mph to 25 mph and seas became choppy. When Kipp tried to pull the girls back in, the tow line to their parachute snapped against the force of the wind and sent the girls flying towards the buildings on shore. Both girls crashed into a second story hotel balcony of the Beachcomber Hotel. 15-year old Amber suffered critical neck and head wounds along with internal injuries. She was pronounced brain dead Sunday evening and kept on life support until her organs could be harvested. 17-year old Crystal suffered a head injury along with numerous cuts and bruises. She was released from the hospital several days after the accident.

The suit claims Pompano Beach Water Sports and its employee Scott Kipp were negligent in that they put Crystal and Amber up in a parasail under “extraordinarily dangerous weather conditions” and failed to maintain control of the parasail once it was aloft.

White said in filing this lawsuit, he hopes that those responsible for his daughter's death cannot continue to put the lives of others in danger.

Attorneys Jason and Debi Chalik of Ft. Lauderdale have been retained by the White Family. In addition to representing the White’s in their Broward court case, they will also fight in Tallahassee to regulate the parasailing industry in Florida.

CBS4
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Members of Amber White's family came Monday to say goodbye, as they gave up hope the 15-year-old girl would recover from injuries suffered in a parasailing accident over the weekend off Pompano Beach.

"She's passed on," said James Day, Amber's stepfather, seated in the dimly lit seventh-floor waiting room of the pediatric intensive care unit at Broward General Medical Center. "She was declared clinically dead Sunday at about 6 p.m. She's still on life support, just to say goodbye."

The hospital later Monday removed Amber from life support and declared her dead, said administrative supervisor Tony Tutterow.

As Day spoke, another family member was on a cell phone giving directions to relatives trying to find the hospital from Interstate 95. Amber's mother, Shannon Kraus, was by her child's bed down the hall, he said. Amber's 16th birthday is Sunday.

"We're going ahead to donate her organs to other children they could save," Day said, with tears in his eyes.

Her sister Crystal White, 17, who was also injured Saturday, was released Monday from North Broward Medical Center.

As the girls, visiting from Summerfield near Ocala, parasailed off Pompano Beach on a blustery Saturday afternoon, strong gusts carried them toward shore, dragged them across the roof of a hotel building and into some palm trees. At some point during the ordeal, the tow rope broke.

About 40 minutes before the boat set out, the National Weather Service had issued a notice to boaters of off-shore thunderstorms and high winds heading toward a section of coast that included Pompano Beach.

The captain, Scott Kipp, 26, may face charges in the accident, according to an initial incident report released Monday by the Broward Sheriff's Office. The report blames "careless/reckless" operation, equipment failure and weather. An unspecified charge is listed as pending, while the investigation continues.

Reached by phone, Kipp said, "I don't really have any comment on that." He referred questions to his lawyer, Rod Coleman, who could not be reached despite three messages.

The report said the boat was owned by Island Waves Parasailing, which lists a post office box in Palm Beach Gardens. According to state records, Island Waves Parasailing is a registered trade name owned by Waterfront License Corp., also with a Palm Beach Gardens P.O. box.

The president of that company is Anthony P. Aiello, 41, of North Palm Beach, according to state corporation records. He was arrested July 12 and jailed for 11 days for failing to appear in court to face charges of retail theft and possession of drug paraphernalia, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said.

The Coast Guard had reported the boat was operated by Pompano Beach Water Sports, of which Aiello is vice president, state records show.

Aiello could not be reached for comment Monday, despite attempts by phone and a visit to his home in North Palm Beach.

The parasailing businesses that dot Florida's tourist beaches operate with few regulations. Last year then-state Sen. Jim Sebesta, R-St. Petersburg, introduced a bill that would have required parasailing companies to obtain licenses, suspend operations when weather turns bad, obtain insurance, meet vessel safety standards, carry a marine radio, stay at least 2,000 feet from shore and meet several other safety standards. The bill died in committee.

Sebesta introduced it after two parasailing accidents on Florida's west coast. In 2001, a mother and daughter from Kentucky were killed after their line snapped in stormy weather, dropping them into the waters off Fort Myers. In 2004, two 15-year-old girls were carried into a power line off Bradenton Beach after their line broke free. They were rescued.

In his interview with detectives, Kipp said the winds suddenly increased from 15 mph to 40 mph, the Sheriff's Office report said. The hydraulic winch on the boat, used to wound and reel in the tow rope, was not strong enough to bring the parachute down.

The wind pulled the boat toward shore, according to the report, and the two girls were up in the air for about two minutes. The parachute then spun "out of control" and the tow line broke, the report states. It carried the girls atop the two-story Beachcomber Resort and Villas building and through several trees in the courtyard.

Crystal White came to Broward General on Monday, where she learned about her sister Amber's condition.

"She didn't take it very well," her stepfather said. "They're all they've got."

By David Fleshler, Macollvie Jean-François and Joel Marino
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Investigators are piecing together a parasailing accident that left one teenager dead and seriously injured her older sister.

A parasailing accident has killed one teen and left her older sister seriously injured, and now authorities are trying to figure out what happened and if the boat driver could have done anything to prevent the accident.

Careless boating, equipment failure and bad weather all might have contributed to the horrific crash Saturday in Pompano Beach that killed Amber White, one week shy of her 16th birthday, according to a preliminary incident report released Monday by the Broward Sheriff's Office.

Amber died Monday at Broward General Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, the same day her sister Crystal, 17, was released from North Broward Medical Center.

BSO and the U.S. Coast Guard are trying to figure out what caused the rope to snap and if mechanical failure and driver error were involved. The results of that investigation will determine whether the driver, Scott Kipp of Island Waves Parasailing, is cited for careless operating.

An employee who answered the phone Monday at Pompano Beach Watersports said Kipp and the company's owners, Christopher Boone and Anthony Aiello, declined to comment.

Amber White, who had spent most of Monday in critical condition, was declared brain-dead the day before.

Crystal White was released from the hospital at noon Monday in time to join the family at Broward General, where she was reunited with her sister for the first time since the accident.

''Those girls were a team,'' said their aunt, Dina White. ``They were a duo. And now Crystal is flying solo.''

Monday was supposed to be the girls' first day of school at Lake Weir High School in Ocala, where Crystal was supposed to start her senior year Monday.

Amber and Crystal White asked to go parasailing Saturday while visiting South Florida with their neighbors from Summerfield, near Ocala.

The boat from Island Waves Parasailing, also known as Pompano Beach Watersports, was heading north near Pompano Beach when the winds suddenly increased from 15 mph to 40 mph, BSO said.

According to the report, winds were blowing between 15 and 25 mph with waves as high as two feet.

The driver then tried to pull the girls back down, but the boat's hydraulic winch wasn't strong enough and the parachute began to pull the boat toward the shore until the towline broke.

The force sent them flying past nearby trees like a slingshot before they crashed into a second-story balcony of a nearby hotel. The impact left Amber with neck and head wounds as well as internal injuries. Crystal also hit her head, according to the incident report, and suffered cuts and bruises.

The girls were taken to separate hospitals, and friends and family members spent the weekend driving the roughly 15 miles between Broward General Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale and North Broward Medical Center in Deerfield Beach.

The girls' parents have been ''devastated'' since the accident and don't understand how it could have happened, said Dina White, who has spent the past several days flying between Fort Lauderdale and her home near Washington, D.C. Family members plan to donate Amber's organs.

Kipp, 26, had more than 100 hours of experience, according to BSO. He has a commercial boating license and was certified by the Professional Association of Parasail Operators, said Petty Officer James Judge, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesman.

Wes Brent, owner of Atlantic Bridge Jet Ski in Pompano Beach, had employees renting water skis on the beach Saturday and said Saturday's winds came ``all of a sudden out of nowhere.''

He said that Kipp has been upset since Saturday.

''He's a good kid. He's been in tears,'' Brent said. ``He's just really hurt about it.''

But Rich Welter, who has owned Sunset Watersports in Key West for the past 25 years, said the typical parasailing rope can hold roughly 8,000 pounds and shouldn't break if it's in good condition.

''That rope is strong enough that you can lift that boat up,'' he said.

Amber leaves behind her parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, an older sister and three brothers.

Dina White said they are comforted that Amber knew they all cared.

''I knew she knew how much she was loved,'' said Dina White, choking back tears. ``All I want to do is hold her and tell her that one more time, but she knew it. I never have to wonder because I knew she knew it.''

By Breanne Gilpatrick
The Miami Herald
Miami Herald staff writer Robbyn Mitchell contributed to this report.

The parents of a 15-year old girl who died in a parasailing accident off Pompano Beach and South Florida Senator are vowing to work toward laws and regulations to ensure that this type of accident doesn’t happen again.

Amber White was mortally injured, her 17-year old sister Crystal serious injured when the towline attached to their parasail snapped sending the girl crashing into the 2nd floor balcony of a beachside hotel.

In a statement Wednesday by Dennis White, the girl’s father, along with his sister Dina and their extended family said they appreciated all the prayers and kind words.

“We have been dealt a terrible blow, and the world has lost a precious soul. Crystal is doing remarkably well considering the circumstances and has demonstrated a strength unmatched by anyone around her…..We are working night and day to ensure a tragedy of this kind never happens again. We are focused on Crystal's recovery and the preservation of Amber's memory. Through her death, Amber will set into motion laws and regulations that will potentially save the lives of others. She would have had it no other way.”

Amber will be buried Sunday in Summerfield, outside of Ocala.

Also Wednesday, Senator Gwen Margolis drafted a bill concerning new parasail regulations that she intends to file when the new session begins next month.

Under her bill, parasail operators would have to stay a minimum of 2-thousand feet offshore and they would not be allowed to operate when the wind reaches 20 knots. They would also have to carry liability insurance policy.

“It makes me sick to see people dying for no reason, especially our kids,” Senator Margolis told CBS4.Com, “This bill will save lives.”

Currently, there are no state or federal regulations that apply specifically to parasailing, but the boat operators are covered by the same rules that apply to all commercial vessels.

Broward Sheriff’s investigators have yet to rule what may have caused the accident. Equipment failure, bad weather and possibly careless boating, or any combination of these factors, are all being considered.

CBS 4

It was noon and the wind was picking up as Capt. Andy Lepel cruised the waters off Pompano Beach. He had a half-dozen customers on board wanting to parasail — and a tough call to make.

As thunderstorms approached, Lepel made his decision: to head to shore.

"I reeled them back in. I said, 'I'm sorry, you can come back tomorrow, and I'll give you a free ride,'" he said later. "I lost probably $1,000 that day, but I didn't lose any lives."

Lepel is one of a growing number of owners and operators in the parasailing business — which historically has been averse to outside regulation — who are now calling for the government to step in and impose basic safety rules. Last week's fatal accident on Pompano Beach only reinforced their demands.

Lepel, co-owner of Sand and Sea Parasailing, said he saw the tragedy unfold after taking his own customers back to the beach. A National Weather Service announcement warned of approaching thunderstorms. Soon after, as two sisters visiting from North Florida were parasailing from another boat, a gust hit.

The parasail rope snapped and the girls were thrown into the roof of a hotel and several trees, according to a Broward County Sheriff's Office report.

Amber White, 15, of Summerfield, was fatally injured. Her sister Crystal, 17, was hurt less seriously. The Sheriff's Office investigation into the incident, and the role of boat captain Scott Kipp of Island Waves Parasail, is pending. Kipp's lawyer, Roderick Coleman, has said his client received no weather advisory on his radio's emergency channel and that "the day was perfect for parasailing."

Lepel disagreed. "We were standing there saying, 'Why is he still out flying?' It shouldn't be optional not to fly in 40-mph winds," Lepel said. "Someone needs to come in here and enforce the laws they have and create some new ones."

Officials have not determined whether existing laws were violated. But on the whole, the industry is loosely regulated. The Coast Guard requires operators of commercial vessels to be licensed, but requires no training for anyone who wants to attach customers to a parachute and a tether and tow them through the water. If a boat carries less than six people, as most parasailors do, it is not subject to Coast Guard inspections.

"Anybody can buy a parachute, hook it up to a boat and call themselves a parasail operator," said Jeannete Lewis, a partner at The Haggard Law Firm in Coral Gables, who represented the mother of a young woman killed in 1999 while parasailing in the Bahamas. A jury awarded the mother $1.8 million.

Inexperienced operators are one of the biggest dangers, said Sean Sandell, a parasail operator for 10 years who learned his craft in the Caribbean and now works for Visit Palm Beach at the Riviera Beach Marina. "It's safe and easy when you know what you're doing and follow the rules."

Arrit McPherson, president of the Professional Association of Parasail Operators based in San Diego, said that for years his group favored self-regulation, setting its own standards and seeking voluntary compliance from members.

But Amber White's death, McPherson said, convinced him the association's campaign for self-regulation has been a "failure."

"We've proved we can't do it ourselves," he said. "If laws were passed that were sensible and could be enforced, accidents could be reduced."

Parasailing accidents are relatively rare, according to the Coast Guard. Between 1992 and 2001, the agency reported 64 injuries and three deaths nationwide. Twenty-four of the incidents occurred in Florida, more than any other state.

From 2002 to 2006, Florida had seven injuries and no deaths. Compare that to sky-diving, in which 21 people died nationwide in 2006 alone, according to the United States Parachute Association.

In 2006, a state lawmaker from St. Petersburg introduced a bill that would have required parasail companies to carry insurance, stay at least 2,000 feet from shore, and shut down when winds reached 20 knots per hour. The bill died in committee.

Energized by Amber White's death, state Sen. Gwen Margolis, D-Sunny Isles Beach, has said she plans to reintroduce similar provisions, which if followed, could have prevented last Saturday's accident. Because of the legislative calendar, however, the measure may not be heard until next spring.

Wayne Mascolo, owner of Aloha Enterprises, a company that offers parasailing in Fort Lauderdale, said he favors the establishment of legally enforceable safety standards. He follows the voluntary rules issued by PAPO, he said, but "a lot of people" don't.

Brian Marozzi, president of Visit Palm Beach, is more wary. He welcomes new safety legislation, he said, but worries about the government setting arbitrary requirements. What's more, he said, new rules will be meaningless unless they are enforced. "Are they going to send someone out with tape measures to see how far people are offshore?" he asked.

Sandell said any regulations should be made with input from people who know the business. "We're the ones who know the limits and what's going to keep people safe," he said.

On Friday, Sandell maneuvered a boat off Palm Beach County as a mother and son from Texas glided about 400 feet in the air, a large parasail behind them.

"If it's with a major company, I feel safe. They know what they're doing," said Debbie Vandecarr, after she and her son, Kohner, 8, finished their ride.

On Sunday, a memorial service for Amber White will be held in her hometown near Ocala. Since the accident, Lepel said, he had been in contact with the girl's family. Despite their grief, he said, they want to do what's needed so more families don't suffer the consequences of a serious parasailing accident.

"The sad part is over. Now it's time to get mad," Lepel said.

By Jamie Malernee and Rachael Joyner | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Staff Writers Macollvie Jean-Francois and David Fleshler contributed to this report.

By Bob Massey

If you operate a boat in Charlotte County, odds are one in 2,440 you'll be involved in an accident.

In Sarasota County, although there are more people and boats, your chances are slightly better, one in 2,725.

Charlotte and Sarasota are ranked 22nd and 23rd respectively among Florida's 67 counties for the number of boating accidents reported in 2006. Go south just a little -- into Lee County waters -- and you'll enter an area ranked fifth in the state.

But the concern isn't with local statistics -- it's with the statewide ones.

In 2006, only California (with 757) outpaced Florida (671) in the number of boating accidents. Yet Florida led the nation in fatalities with 69 -- as compared to only 47 in Texas and 44 in California.

That's according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation's 2006 Boating Accident Statistical Report, released last month by the agency's Division of Law Enforcement, Boating and Waterways Section.

So the FWC is preaching a gospel of salvation to boaters -- salvation of lives and property, that is. The report allows the commission to review the most common factors involved in boating accidents, as well as precise locations where the greatest numbers of incidents occur.

According to the report itself, the agency uses the statistics to formulate proactive plans to get -- or at least keep -- the numbers down.

"There are occasions when data ends up being used to identify areas where there are specific areas of safety hazard," said Capt. Richard Moore, the FWC's state boating law administrator. "We'll see if there needs to be an extra regulatory measure put in place, such as a speed zone."

But, Moore said, the area he's proudest to be involved in is public awareness.

"I've been in this business nine years," he said, "and I'm committed to trying to change our boating culture. Our ultimate goal is saving people's lives, so we've got to find a way to change boaters' behavior a little bit. We've even started an ad campaign statewide."

That has to be a tough job when the number of registered boaters in Florida is at an all-time high, at more than 1 million -- an increase of 14,000 over 2005. That doesn't include the estimated 350,000 unregistered boats in the state.

Although Florida is the top state in the nation for the number of recreational vessels, it is second (behind California) for the most boating accidents.

The FWC began a pilot campaign in 2005 in Lee County, Moore said, to educate boaters about the top safety hazards.

"Over and over again, there were three topics of concern," he said. "We found out three were too many to focus on properly, so we narrowed it down to two."

The first factor

The two most common factors may seem like common sense, but apparently that's not so common.

"First and foremost, accidents occur because somebody's not paying close attention to what's going on around them," Moore said. "If you're attentive, chances of you running into something -- or something running into you -- are pretty slim."

One person who would agree with that assessment is Capt. Bruce LaMotte, owner of Lemon Bay Tours in Englewood, which runs sightseeing and nature cruises aboard a 49-passenger catamaran. He said he sometimes dreads going out on the water on weekends.

"One problem on the weekend is boaters who have had way too much to drink or are not paying attention," LaMotte said. "A lot of people get in their boat and don't have a clue about the rules of the road. Some people have the hammer down, going 40 mph -- and I can't see their faces because they're looking at their GPS to see how fast they're going."

Alcohol (and other abused substances), though not in the top two, is certainly an issue. It contributed to 15 percent of all fatal boating accidents.

Drinking while driving a boat is as dangerous -- or perhaps even more so -- than drinking while driving a car, said Captain Ralph Allen, owner of King Fisher Fleet, a cruise and fishing charter service operating out of Fishermen's Village in Punta Gorda.

"On a boat, there are no white lines like there are on the road, to at least keep them going straight," he said.

The second factor

The second factor in boating accidents is as logical as it is preventable.

After careful analysis to determine the primary type of fatal accident, Moore said, "it came back pretty quick that the majority are falls overboard."

Surprisingly, it's not the less aggressive waters of the Gulf where most incidents of this type occur. A whopping 73 percent of fatal falls overboard take place on calm, inland waters such as lakes, ponds, rivers and creeks.

The problem of people falling overboard is not the main concern, however.

"People are going to accidentally fall overboard from time to time," Moore said. "And there are a lot of things we could say, but it would get confusing.

"When you look at Coast Guard statistics, one of the things they said in their national report is 85 percent of the people who drowned in boating accidents could have been saved if they were wearing a life jacket."

Moore compares life jackets on boats to seat belts in cars. They won't eliminate fatalities -- but they sure will reduce them.

"The only thing the law requires is having enough life jackets on boat for the amount of passengers," Moore said. "A lot of these people (who became fatalities) had enough jackets on the boat -- but it wasn't doing them any good because they weren't wearing them."

Moore noted that life jackets do not have to be bulky, obtrusive or uncomfortable.

"They even have inflatable life jackets that look like a fanny pack," he said. "They're flat until you inflate them. It's comfortable to wear in Florida's heat, and it won't even ruin your tan lines."

But how do you persuade boaters to do the right thing?

State of concern

Like Moore, LaMotte feels that education should play a larger role in boater safety.

"I don't like a lot of government," he said, "but I believe people who take boats out should have some kind of (mandatory) education or class."

But there's something else he would like to see: more marine patrols.

"I don't see them out there during the busiest times," LaMotte said. "It would be nice to have them enforce no-wake zones a little bit more. Maybe if they (the offenders) got a ticket, they wouldn't do it as much."

LaMotte is not alone in his desire to see more enforcement. In the commission's 2006 Florida Recreational Boating Survey, nearly half (47 percent) of boaters indicated they want to see more agency enforcement on public waters. A huge 81 percent want greater enforcement on careless or reckless boaters, while more than half (56 percent) want the FWC to crack down on boaters impaired by alcohol or other substances.

Allen said it doesn't seem as if 2007 will be any better in the state.

"It's sad that we have such a high accident rate and fatality rate," Allen said, adding that Florida has had a string of fatal accidents this year all around the state.

"It looks like this will be a record year, the way we're going."