Damage from Ship Wake
 

Has anyone here ever had to file a claim for damage caused by a ships wake? Looking for info on how to go about it.

believe you have to file a report with the coast guard

Contact an attorney, your gonna need one to collect from a foreign flagged vessel. Those baskrids pizz me off when they don't slow down. How bad is your boat damaged??

talk to the cameron pilot house, they're supposed to be driving.

good luck filing a claim with USCG, only saving grace may be that it happened inland.

I just about lost my motor and transom due to a 12ft+ drop from ground swell behind a ship after dark today. How my friend and I stayed in the boat is beyond me. I will post pics tomorrow.

This is gonna be interesting.
File a claim with the insurance company and let them get their money back from the pilots and the shipping company.
Did you get the name of the ship?

Actually the pilot just gives direction to the ships captain and doesn't touch the controls.


Warren

But he dictates the speeds.

Marsh Boy's father in law is a captain on the Pilot boats.
He can get you more info.

True.

I did not get the name of the ship. It was dark and everything was fine when we passed, it was the ground swell behind him that got us. He was fully loaded and moving on. Lucky for me I was going slow with the nose up or I would have tanked it. I can not count how many ships I have passed but never have I seen swells so big behind one.

I was with dink and mauntak17 running by the jettys. This crew boat hammered down on the throttle. Well let's just say we all needed s change of underpants.

There are not that many ships that go in and out.
You can find out the name if you remember the time and date.

The Captain of the Port, LC -USCG, has a log of all arrivals and departures. I can tell you they will take a report and offer assistance in providing information, but I doubt you have any success collecting from a ship owner. The ship is in transit, in a commercial shipping lane, and your vessel was not moored. Their argument would be you have to give right of way to the larger, less manuerving (sp?) vessel. Think of it this way - no contact was made, the ship captain did not go out of an approved travel lane of a vessel of his size, and their is no speed limits on a ship in the channel. Sucks, but that's the nuts & bolts of it. Turn your damage over to your insurance agent and let them deal with it, don't waste your time or mental health worrying about it. You and your crew are safe, count your blessings and chalk it up to a learning experieince.

This......It is a Ship Channel, designed for Shipping Lanes straight from Gulf to Port. Ships have Right of Way and it doesn't sound like he was breaking any rules of the road.

I'm already a bubble off and I have plenty of time and money so I think I will see this through.

:cheers:Well, good luck.......and let me know how that turns out for you!

Go get em.

How bad did it mess up ur boat?

A boat is responsible for any damages it causes.
That is one of the rules of the road.
It is in US waters, those are inland rules in the US.