Three crew members have won damages of $2.88m after the yacht they were working on sank a product tanker off the US.
Miami-owner Maritime Management’s 750-dwt tanker Tropic Breeze (built 1989) was a total loss after the incident involving the $50m Utopia IV.
Crew members Eric Ward, Samuel Parrott and Fred Wennberg had sued Utopia Yachting in a Florida court under the Jones Act, alleging negligence, unseaworthiness and failure to provide prompt and adequate maintenance.
The US National Transportation Safety Bureau (NTSB) ruled that the collision off the Bahamas in December 2021 was probably caused by the failure of the yacht’s crew to maintain a proper lookout.
Boat International reported that an 18-day trial has now ended, with a jury awarding $805,000 to Ward, $591,000 to Parrott and $1.49m to Wennberg.
According to court documents obtained by BoatPro, each plaintiff claimed to have been injured in the accident.
The smash resulted in nearly $7.9m in damage.
The tanker’s seven crew members fled to lifeboats and were all rescued.
The yacht was owned by US retail billionaire JR Ridinger, who died in 2022.
It was carrying seven charter guests and 12 crew members at the time.
The impact pierced the stern of the Tropic Breeze, which sank to a depth of 2 km.
The tanker was on its usual short-haul trip from New Providence Island with 156,500 gallons of fuel that were lost with the ship.
The NTSB said the yacht’s wheelhouse crew did not identify the tanker they were overtaking.
A contributing factor was the Tropic Breeze’s bridge team also not maintaining a proper lookout.
“A proper lookout by suitably trained crew members is required by the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 and is essential in determining the risk of collision,” the report said.
