Tug operator, Navy liable in sailor death

[unhappycamper]

Tug operator, Navy liable in sailor death
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Dec 22, 2009 17:34:27 EST

NEWARK, N.J. — A federal judge has found the Navy and a private tugboat company liable in the death of a sailor from New Jersey.

Freddie Porter Jr. was killed in October 2007 during a nighttime training exercise on Virginia's James River.

The 19-year-old Garfield resident's Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat was run over by a tugboat owned and operated by Vulcan Materials Company. Two other seamen survived the collision.

A judge in Norfolk, Va., ruled Friday that Vulcan must pay Porter's family $1.25 million. The Navy was not required to pay damages.

The ruling faulted the Navy for putting an inexperienced crew in the boat, and faulted the tugboat company for not posting a lookout despite having limited visibility due to an eight-barge flotilla the tug was pushing.


Article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/12/ap_navy_deathlawsuit_122209/