In July 2022, commercial fishermen were hit by barges at night while sleeping
By WILLIAM SNOWDEN
Editor
Editor’s Note: This story is based on court records, a U.S. Coast Guard accident report, and other public records. The two fishermen involved in the case declined to be interviewed.
Two commercial fishermen – Adam Plouffe of Panacea and Capt. Tommy Merrell of Carrabelle – were fishing in Gulf on July 27, 2022.
Plouffe, with a reputation for big catches, had set upon a mess of fish in the Humpty Dumpty, a boat owned by Merrell. Plouffe contacted Merrell by radio and told him his coordinates and to come to the area so they could both fish the area in the morning. Plouffe put out 250 of anchorline and Merrell, aboard another of his boat’s, Eli’s Inheritance, arrived at the location and tied up on the port stern of the Humpty Dumpty. The two fishermen and a deckhand ate dinner and then laid down to sleep.
A couple of days earlier, the tug Lady Terea arrived in Panama City and took over two empty barges and picked up two crewmembers – first mate and deckhand – for a 28-day hitch. The tug left the Port of Panama City bound for Tampa with the two stretched to 500 feet of cable connected to a 65-foot cable bridle to the first barge and 300-feet of plypro line connected to a 45-foot cable bridle on the second barge.
According to a statement by Plouffe, the fishermen went to sleep around 10:30 p.m. He woke up around 12:15 a.m. and checked the boat. And again around 2:30 a.m.
Around 3:30 a.m., he said, “We were woke up by stuff getting ripped off the Humpty Dumpty roof.” The crew jumped up to see what was going on. “We tried to run to the back deck but we were getting thrown everywhere and I was getting smashed into the door frame. I landed on my back in the floor, got back up and was able to turn the speader/deck lights on and I heard Capt. Tommy Merrell yelling we are getting run over. At that time I turned the radio on and started yelling Mayday over and over again.”
Plouffe started the boat’s engine but was thrown from the wheel. Merrell grabbed the wheel and floored the boat yelling at the deckhand to cut the rope.
“The back of the boat was going under water being pushed by a huge barge,” Plouffe said in a statement. “We were able to get loose as we were getting out from under this huge barge, (the deckhand) was smashed by the barge hitting the fish box as he was cutting the rope.”
The Humpty Dumpty got out from under the barge, but the other boat, Eli’s Inheritance, was going under water and being pushed by the barge.
Merrell was on the radio yelling “Mayday!”
A radio operator on the tug answered: “Apparently no one else can hear you.” (The barge had destroyed the Humpty Dumpty’s attenas.)
Merrell informed him that he had hit them and they were sinking.
“Are you kidding me?” came back the answer.
Merrell told him to call the Coast Guard.
Merrell then started calling coordinates and preparing emergency equipment.
The tug boat came back: “I didn’t see your lights.”
With the radio not working, Plouffe grabbed a satellite phone – the only person he could reach was his grandfather, Ronald Fred Crum, and gave him their coordinates and told him to call the Coast Guard, FWC and Sea Tow.
Merrell checked the boat and the rudder, prop shaft and exhaust were all leaking. While they couldn’t manage much speed, the boat wasn’t leaking as much if they kept moving forward.
They slowly moved forward towards land, taking on water, and unsure if they could make it back to port.
A Coast Guard helicopter out of Clearwater showed up after a couple of hours. Then Sea tTow. Then the FWC.
They limped in to the dock at Carrabelle. An ambulance took the deckhand to Tallahassee Memorial.
A civil case was filed in the Eastern District of Louisiana, in New Orleans, by the owners of the tug petitioning for exoneration from or limitation of liability.
The owner of the tug claimed that any damage done was not due to any fault, neglect or negligence and denied the tug struck the boats.
But a watchstander out of District Eight Command Center observed the track lines of the tug cross the Humpty Dumpty. Sector Mobile contacts the tugboat’s owner LA Carriers dispatch and contact the First Mate.
An hour after hitting the boat, the First Mate goes below to wake the tug’s Master to tell him to contact the Coast Guard.
The Master “contacts the Command Center and is shocked when the details of the previous hour were dictated,” according to the Coast Guard report. “At this time, the Master takes over the helm and conducts a jackknife turn to check the towline to see if they are dragging a vessel. Once the tow line was cleared, the (tug) started to aid in the search of the vessel.” At 5 a.m., the tug was instructed to continue its voyage and it returned to Panama City to conduct drug and alcohol testing and interviews with Coast Guard investigators.
The capsized Eli’s Inheritance was found by an airplace and coordinates were given to Merrell. On July 29, the boat was recovered, hauled out of the water and made available to investigators.
“All three crewmembers onboard the fishing vessel sustained injuried that required medical assistance and prescribed pain medicine,” according to the report.
The Coast Guard report found the crash happened due to the First Mate’s failure to see the anchored fishing boats on the water or using radar.
It also noted the failure of the Humpty Dumpty to maintain a night watch.
Merrell and Plouffe sued LA Carriers and the tug Lady Terea in federal district court in New Orleans and recently settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.
