Yesterday, President Obama signed legislation that will improve the safety of passengers on cruise ships.

In response to a series of high-profile assaults and disappearances on cruise ships in recent years, President Obama signed into law Tuesday tougher new rules for reporting crimes at sea, improving ship safety and training ship staff on collecting assault evidence.

The $40-billion cruise line industry has long been condemned by critics who say cruise ships registered in foreign countries have taken advantage of murky lines of jurisdiction to ignore the responsibility for misdeeds that occur on ships in international waters.

The bill, written by Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) and Democratic Rep. Doris Matsui of Sacramento, requires cruise lines to install peepholes on passenger stateroom doors and crew members’ quarters as well as add on-deck surveillance cameras, among other safety improvements.

The law, which takes effect in 18 months, also mandates cruise personnel to contact both the FBI and the Coast Guard as soon as passengers report such serious crimes as homicides, suspicious deaths, missing U.S. nationals, kidnappings or assaults. The law also requires ships to employ a “trained forensic sexual assault specialist” and carry rape evidence kits and anti-retroviral medication.

Cruise lines that fail to comply may be denied entry into U.S. ports and face civil penalties of up to $50,000 per violation and criminal penalties of as much as $250,000 and one year’s imprisonment.

We are fighting… for the safety and security of you and your family. Making cruise lines, other commercial facilities, and products safer and more secure, one case at a time.

CONTACT US AND SEE OUR RESULTS AT: www.hickeylawfirm.com and CALL US TOLL FREE AT 1.800.215.7117.

Primary Sources:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cruise-ships-20100728,0,7753898.story

DATE OF DISASTER: APRIL 20, 2010

COMPANIES INVOLVED:
- BRITISH PETROLEUM (Leased Deepwater Horizon)
- HALLIBURTON (Oil Services Contractor for Deepwater Horizon)
- TRANSOCEAN LTD. (Owns Deepwater Horizon)

Government officials say the oil well may be finally sealed once and for all this week.

The government’s oil spill chief, retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, said in Washington on Monday that efforts to solidly seal BP’s busted deep-sea well are set to begin in a week. Allen said the so-called “static kill” — in which mud and cement are pumped into the top of the well — should start Aug. 2. Because the well is now capped, that effort will be more controlled than a previous failed effort, a “top kill” in which mud was shot into the still-spewing well. A relief well is nearly complete for the final stage, a “bottom kill” in which mud and cement are pumped in from deep underground. Allen said that work could begin Aug. 7 and could take days or weeks, depending on how well the static kill works. Delays are possible, though. Tropical storm forecasts last week forced crews to suspend their work about 50 miles off the Louisiana coast for several days. Allen says he’ll order an evacuation again if a similar storm forms.

We are fighting… for the safety and security of you and your family. Making cruise lines, other commercial facilities, and products safer and more secure, one case at a time.

CONTACT US AND SEE OUR RESULTS AT: www.hickeylawfirm.com and CALL US TOLL FREE AT 1.800.215.7117.
Primary Sources:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i-yfHJzPLDeBIhG5JDEF6VbaPR8QD9H73DD84

DATE OF DISASTER: APRIL 20, 2010

OIL PLATFORM: DEEPWATER HORIZON

COMPANIES INVOLVED:
- BRITISH PETROLEUM (Leased Deepwater Horizon)
- HALLIBURTON (Oil Services Contractor for Deepwater Horizon)
- TRANSOCEAN LTD. (Owns Deepwater Horizon)

After 87 long days, BP may have finally stopped the oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico.

Oil stopped gushing into the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, for the first time in nearly three months, as BP began testing the cap atop its stricken well, a critical step toward sealing the well permanently.

Even if the cap permanently stops the oil leak, that doesn’t take away the enormous amount of damage that has already been done.

Over the last long 12 weeks, the government estimates that approximately 175 million gallons of oil have flooded into the Gulf of Mexico. That is roughly equivalent to 16 Exxon Valdez spills, making it many times over the largest oil spill in national history and perhaps the worst environmental crisis we’ve ever confronted. It is hard to understate the scale of environmental destruction the Gulf will continue to experience for months and probably years to come.

From damaged marine and coastal wildlife habitat covering thousands of square miles to crippled fishing and tourism industries that depend on healthy oceans and beaches, BP’s Deepwater Horizon blow out is a disaster in every sense of the word. And that is before we are able to assess the extent of the damage from the underwater oil plumes or the more than two million gallons of chemical dispersants that have been dumped into the Gulf.

We are fighting… for the safety and security of you and your family. Making cruise lines, other commercial facilities, and products safer and more secure, one case at a time.

CONTACT US AND SEE OUR RESULTS AT: www.hickeylawfirm.com and CALL US TOLL FREE AT 1.800.215.7117.

Primary Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/16/us/16latest.html
http://www.beyondchron.org/articles/175_Million_Gallons_Later_Progress_in_Stopping_Flow_of_Oil_8326.html

DATE OF DISASTER: APRIL 20, 2010

COMPANIES INVOLVED:
- BRITISH PETROLEUM (Leased Deepwater Horizon)
- HALLIBURTON (Oil Services Contractor for Deepwater Horizon)
- TRANSOCEAN LTD. (Owns Deepwater Horizon)

Testing continues to determine how to stop the leak in the new containment cap fitted over BP’s oil well on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico.

BP engineers working to choke the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico found a leak on a line attached to the side of the new well cap and were trying to fix it Thursday before attempting to stop the flow of crude.

BP said Wednesday evening it had isolated the leak and was repairing it before moving forward. It wasn’t clear how it would affect the timing of the operation, or whether oil continued to be slowly closed off into the cap.

The new containment cap remains the best hope yet of stopping the crude from streaming into the water for the first time since the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig that killed 11 people.

The testing process began with BP shutting off pipes that were funneling some of the oil to ships on the surface so the full force of the gusher went up into the cap. Then deep-sea robots began slowly closing, one at a time, three openings in the cap that let oil pass through. Ultimately, the flow of crude will be blocked entirely.

All along, engineers were watching pressure readings to learn whether the well is intact. The first two valves shut off like a light switch, while the third works more like a dimmer and takes longer to close off. The leak was found in the line attached to the dimmer switch, but live video footage showed that oil previously spewing from other sources on the cap remained closed off.

We are fighting… for the safety and security of you and your family. Making cruise lines, other commercial facilities, and products safer and more secure, one case at a time.

CONTACT US AND SEE OUR RESULTS AT: www.hickeylawfirm.com and CALL US TOLL FREE AT 1.800.215.7117.

Primary Sources:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/07/15/national/main6679992.shtml

DATE OF DISASTER: APRIL 20, 2010

COMPANIES INVOLVED:
- BRITISH PETROLEUM (Leased Deepwater Horizon)
- HALLIBURTON (Oil Services Contractor for Deepwater Horizon)
- TRANSOCEAN LTD. (Owns Deepwater Horizon)

A crucial test should take place this week to determine whether the oil leak can be stopped once and for all.

With a new, tighter-fitting cap in place on its runaway well in the Gulf of Mexico, BP was expected to begin a pressure test in which valves on the cap would be closed, shutting down the leak for the first time since the rig exploded in late April. But officials announced Tuesday night that the test would be postponed, pending further analysis.

We are fighting… for the safety and security of you and your family. Making cruise lines, other commercial facilities, and products safer and more secure, one case at a time.

CONTACT US AND SEE OUR RESULTS AT: www.hickeylawfirm.com and CALL US TOLL FREE AT 1.800.215.7117.

Primary Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/us/14latest.html?_r=1

DATE OF DISASTER: APRIL 20, 2010

COMPANIES INVOLVED:
- BRITISH PETROLEUM (Leased Deepwater Horizon)
- HALLIBURTON (Oil Services Contractor for Deepwater Horizon)
- TRANSOCEAN LTD. (Owns Deepwater Horizon)

BP is preparing to set up another large containment vessel later this week to help collect even more oil in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP reported Tuesday that its capture systems at the blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico collected or burned off 24,980 barrels of oil on Monday. Mark Proegler, a BP spokesman, said preparations continued for hooking a third vessel, the Helix Producer, up to the systems, which would increase the capture capacity from 28,000 barrels a day to 53,000 barrels. Skimming operations across the gulf have scooped up about 23.5 million gallons of oiled water so far.

We are fighting… for the safety and security of you and your family. Making cruise lines, other commercial facilities, and products safer and more secure, one case at a time.

CONTACT US AND SEE OUR RESULTS AT: www.hickeylawfirm.com and CALL US TOLL FREE AT 1.800.215.7117

Primary Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/07/us/07latest.html

DATE OF DISASTER: APRIL 20, 2010

COMPANIES INVOLVED:
- BRITISH PETROLEUM (Leased Deepwater Horizon)
- HALLIBURTON (Oil Services Contractor for Deepwater Horizon)
- TRANSOCEAN LTD. (Owns Deepwater Horizon)

BP gas stations, feeling the backlash from angry consumers boycotting their pumps, are going to get money from BP in order to stay in business.

BP says it will give cash and other help to the owners, operators and suppliers of BP-branded gas stations around the United States. The stations have been struggling because of boycotts prompted by the oil spill. John Kleine of the BP Amoco Marketers Association told The Associated Press on Tuesday that outlets would get cash based on volume, with the rates being higher for those in the Gulf States. They will also have lower credit card fees and get help with national advertising. Some stations have reported sales declines of 10 percent to 40 percent since the April 20 rig explosion.

We are fighting… for the safety and security of you and your family. Making cruise lines, other commercial facilities, and products safer and more secure, one case at a time.

CONTACT US AND SEE OUR RESULTS AT: www.hickeylawfirm.com and CALL US TOLL FREE AT 1.800.215.7117.

Primary Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/30/us/30latest.html

DATE OF DISASTER: APRIL 20, 2010

COMPANIES INVOLVED:
- BRITISH PETROLEUM (Leased Deepwater Horizon)
- HALLIBURTON (Oil Services Contractor for Deepwater Horizon)
- TRANSOCEAN LTD. (Owns Deepwater Horizon)

Tropical Storm Alex is still looming around the Gulf of Mexico but thankfully will most likely not cause problems for oil spill cleanup workers.

A tropical storm moving across the western Gulf of Mexico will most likely strengthen into a hurricane but is not expected to seriously disrupt efforts to capture oil gushing from the stricken BP well, Adm. Thad W. Allen of the Coast Guard said Monday. Admiral Allen, commander of the federal response to the disaster, said high seas produced by Tropical Storm Alex should not force the evacuation of rigs and other equipment from the blowout site, which is 50 miles off the Louisiana coast. Should an evacuation take place, he said, it could halt the work of collecting oil and drilling relief wells for about 14 days.

We are fighting… for the safety and security of you and your family. Making cruise lines, other commercial facilities, and products safer and more secure, one case at a time.

CONTACT US AND SEE OUR RESULTS AT: www.hickeylawfirm.com and CALL US TOLL FREE AT 1.800.215.7117.

Primary Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/us/29latest.html

DATE OF DISASTER: APRIL 20, 2010

COMPANIES INVOLVED:
- BRITISH PETROLEUM (Leased Deepwater Horizon)
- HALLIBURTON (Oil Services Contractor for Deepwater Horizon)
- TRANSOCEAN LTD. (Owns Deepwater Horizon)

After over 2 months of oil spilling into the Gulf, residents of the coast are continuing the fight to save their beaches.

In Florida, officials on Thursday closed a quarter-mile stretch of Pensacola Beach not far from the Alabama line when thick pools of oil washed up, the first time a beach in the state has been shut because of the spill. A large patch of oil oozed into Mississippi Sound, the fertile waters between the barrier islands and mainland of a state that has mostly been spared.

And if just fighting the oil isn’t enough, bad weather building in the Caribbean may pose even more problems.

A tropical wave over the western Caribbean Sea has a high chance of developing into a tropical depression over the next couple of days, the U.S. National Hurricane Center and other weather forecasters said.

Most weather models see it hitting the coast near the Texas/Mexico border in a few days but some expect the wave to turn northeast toward Florida and the eastern Gulf of Mexico near where BP’s clean-up operations are in high gear.

We are fighting… for the safety and security of you and your family. Making cruise lines, other commercial facilities, and products safer and more secure, one case at a time.

CONTACT US AND SEE OUR RESULTS AT: www.hickeylawfirm.com and CALL US TOLL FREE AT 1.800.215.7117.

Primary Sources:
http://romenews-tribune.com/view/full_story/8049547/article-More-evidence-of-Gulf-oil-spill-washes-ashore?instance=home_news_lead
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1416392020100625

DATE OF DISASTER: APRIL 20, 2010

COMPANIES INVOLVED:
- BRITISH PETROLEUM (Leased Deepwater Horizon)
- HALLIBURTON (Oil Services Contractor for Deepwater Horizon)
- TRANSOCEAN LTD. (Owns Deepwater Horizon)

After so many reports about the oil spill and the damage it has caused to the people of the Gulf Coast and marine life, looking at the spill in terms of numbers gives yet another perspective.

The administration has authorized the deployment of 17,500 National Guard troops from Gulf Coast states to respond to this crisis; to date, 1,612 have been activated.

Approximately 33,700 personnel are currently responding to protect the shoreline and wildlife and cleanup vital coastlines.

More than 6,300 vessels are currently responding on site, including skimmers, tugs, barges, and recovery vessels to assist in containment and cleanup efforts—in addition to dozens of aircraft, remotely operated vehicles, and multiple mobile offshore drilling units.

Approximately 2.47 million feet of containment boom and 3.91 million feet of sorbent boom have been deployed to contain the spill—and approximately 50,000 feet of containment boom and 1.91 million feet of sorbent boom are available.

Approximately 23.5 million gallons of an oil-water mix have been recovered.

Approximately 1.39 million gallons of total dispersant have been applied—939,000 on the surface and 454,000 subsea. More than 470,000 gallons are available.

250 controlled burns have been conducted, efficiently removing a total of more than 6.32 million gallons of oil from the open water in an effort to protect shoreline and wildlife.

17 staging areas are in place to protect sensitive shorelines.

Approximately 59 miles of Gulf Coast shoreline is currently experiencing impacts from BP’s leaking oil—approximately 34 miles in Louisiana, four miles in Mississippi, nine miles in Alabama, and 12 miles in Florida.

Approximately 80,800 square miles of Gulf of Mexico federal waters remain closed to fishing in order to balance economic and public health concerns. More than 66 percent remain open.

Details can be found at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/.

We are fighting… for the safety and security of you and your family. Making cruise lines, other commercial facilities, and products safer and more secure, one case at a time.

CONTACT US AND SEE OUR RESULTS AT: www.hickeylawfirm.com and CALL US TOLL FREE AT 1.800.215.7117.
Primary Sources:
http://www.wjhg.com/news/headlines/96787984.html