A man was killed when the wheelhouse of a boat he was working on capsized on November 15 off Alki Point in Washington State. Three crewmates of the man suffered hypothermia in the accident but survived the capsizing.
According to the Coast Guard and Seattle Fire Department, the men were working for Ballard Marine Construction conducting underwater-survey inspection on two boats when the second boat overturned. Four crew members were on board the boat at the time it capsized and three were rescued from the water before fire department divers arrived at the scene. The three men, all reported in their 30s and 40s, were taken to Fire Station 5 to be evaluated and all were declared to be suffering from hypothermia. They were treated at a local hospital and were last reported in stable condition.
Members of the dive team, however, pulled the fourth man from the wheelhouse of the boat. He did not survive his injuries. There was an air pocket underneath the boat where the man was found wearing a personal safety device, but he was unconscious and unresponsive when rescuers pulled him up to the surface. He received CPR from a helicopter until he reached an emergency room, but was pronounced dead a short while later.
The Coast Guard is investigating the accident. At the time of this report, the exact reason for the boat to turn over is unknown.
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Latti Associates’s Little Extra: According to the U.S. Coast Guard, they responded to nearly 21,700 offshore events and recorded almost 800 maritime deaths in 2012.
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