M/Y Utopia IV Crew Sue Yacht Following Bahamas Collision

Three crewmembers are suing M/Y Utopia IV and Utopia Yachting LLC for Jones Act negligence, unseaworthiness, and unpaid maintenance and cure, consequential damages, attorneys’ fees and costs, and punitive damages. While a complaint was issued more than 850 days ago on Nov. 22, 2022, the case has finally made it to trial and is in its closing phases.

The electro technical officer (ETO), the chief engineer, and the deckhand were on board the 63-meter Rossinavi M/Y Utopia IV when it collided with Tropical Breeze, a gasoline tanker, on the night of Dec. 23, 2021, off the coast of the Bahamas (all three requested not to be named). The collision caused Tropical Breeze to sink, and the vessel’s crew were assisted by M/Y Amara, which was nearby. The complaints state that the collision was due to negligence by Utopia IV’s captain. 

Electro Technical Officer 

During the collision, the ETO was thrown off their feet and collided with a wall and the floor, sustaining injuries, according to the ETO. After the collision, the ETO went to the engine room to ensure that there was no water intrusion in the bulkheads. On their way down, the ETO saw the captain coming up the stairs. The captain was supposed to be on the bridge at the time of the collision, according to the complaint.

After the ETO was finished in the engine room, the ETO began assisting with rescue efforts. The yacht was rolling around at this time because the captain failed to change the stabilizers from underway to zero speed stabilizers. This caused the ETO to severely injure their left foot and ankle, the complaint states. 

The ETO received first aid on the bridge while the yacht made its way to the Bahamas to transport crew to a local hospital. As the vessel approached the port channel, the ETO told the vessel’s bosun to tell the first officer to take control of the yacht as the ETO noticed that the captain was steering the yacht dangerously close to the rocks and would crash again without intervention, the ETO told Triton. The first officer made an emergency maneuver to prevent a collision. 

The ETO received basic treatment in the Bahamas and was repatriated to the U.S. on Dec. 26, 2021. The ETO was eventually diagnosed with severe injuries to their left ankle, including multiple fractures of their left foot and injured nerves, tendons and ligaments, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, and a severe hip injury that required significant medical care and surgeries, according to the complaint. The ETO also sought mental health treatment and were diagnosed with PTSD, according to the complaint.   

Chief Engineer

M/Y Utopia IV’s chief engineer from on or about Oct. 23, 2021, to Feb. 25, 2022, is suing M/Y Utopia IV and Utopia Yachting LLC for five injuries that happened in five different instances aboard the yacht. 

The first incident took place on Nov. 12, 2021, in Newport, Rhode Island, where the engineer fell through a hole in the engine room floor and suffered deep gashes on their leg after a crewmember removed a floor plate and exposed a falling hazard, according to the complaint. The second incident occurred after an improperly placed metal plate slid off its placement in the tender garage and struck the chief engineer, causing injuries to their head and face. 

The third incident in the complaint occurred during the collision of Utopia IV and Tropical Breeze. The complaint states that the yacht’s second mast light and 12-mile radar were not functioning at the time of the collision. The chief engineer was in their cabin at the time of the collision, resulting in multiple injuries such as whiplash, back and lumbar injuries, and PTSD, according to the complaint. 

The complaint states that one of the yacht’s drawers was damaged after the collision, causing the rails and inserts to stick out from the drawer. These damages were never fixed, resulting in cuts to the chief engineer’s legs and requiring medical treatment in the hospital, according to the complaint describing the fourth incident.

The fifth and final incident described in the complaint occurred after the chief engineer was injured due to an improperly wired lithium ECR battery that exploded on the vessel. While docked at the Merrill-Stevens yard in Miami, Florida, the battery had been jerry rigged to be fed continuous power by the yacht’s previous engineer. 

“The explosion caused severe injuries to Intervening Plaintiff, including a temporary loss of hearing, poisoning from smoke inhalation, loss of voice, shortness of breath and more,” the complaint stated.

Deckhand 

M/Y Utopia IV’s deckhand was working in the galley at the time of the collision, assisting the chef and stewardess with cleaning dishes. The deckhand were thrown back into a wall, where a sliding wall section that held two commercial ovens and several hundred pounds of commercial pots and pans came down on the deckhand’s right leg, crushing their foot, ankle, and lower leg between the section and an island in the kitchen, the ETO told Triton. The injuries left the deckhand in severe pain and limited their ability to move or walk. 

The deckhand received basic treatment at a hospital in the Bahamas before returning to the U.S. where the deckhand were eventually diagnosed with multiple right foot fractures and PTSD. While the deckhand briefly received their wages after the collision, their wages were abruptly cut off while on medical leave, with payments for medical expenses having been delayed multiple times, according to the complaint.  

The ETO, the chief engineer, and the deckhand are suing on three counts: failure to provide prompt and adequate maintenance, cure, and wages; Jones Act negligence; and unseaworthiness against the yacht and Utopia Yachting LLC. They are represented by Moore & Company of Coral Gables, Florida.

Check back with Triton for a follow up on the verdict. This is a developing story and Triton will update it as more information becomes available. If you have any tips or breaking news stories, reach out to [email protected].

Images via Rossinavi, Amara, and NTSB.

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