January 12, 2012

A fishing boat captain has died following an accident at sea Tuesday night. According to reports from NBC 10 Philadelphia, the captain’s boat capsized about ten miles off the coast from Barnegat Light near Long Beach Island in New Jersey.

The Coast Guard received distress calls from the sinking ship minutes before the ship went down and deployed a helicopter with a swimmer. The captain’s brother, who has a boat as well, was listening in on the MAYDAY call and also rushed to the scene.

The boat arrived before the helicopter and was able to rescue the 44-foot sinking vessel’s first mate. There were no signs of the captain though.

The Coast Guard deployed the swimmer who recovered the body of the captain from the hull of the ship. Rescuers attempted to revive him to no avail, and he was declared dead a short time later at a local hospital.

Conditions were fairly flat calm on the night of the incident, with roughly three-foot seas and calm wind, which made investigators question what may have caused the boat to capsize. The surviving victim later told his family, and authorities, that he believes the accident was caused by another boat hitting the vessel.

The New Jersey boat accident lawyers with Lundy Law have experience with helping the victims and family members of maritime accidents. Contact us today if you need help with your boat accident claim.