Boat Crew Stranded in Cuba May Pursue Claims Against Travelers
Six crew members claimed they survived by eating rats and insects for nearly a year, a Miami federal judge noted in his order.
September 11, 2019 at 10:37 AM
4 minute read
A federal judge in Miami refused to dismiss a lawsuit brought by foreign nationals against a commercial general liability insurance carrier that insured a cargo barge and tugboat that was stranded in Cuba for nearly a year.
While on its way to deliver cargo from Fort Pierce to Gonaives, Haiti, the tugboat Billy G, ran out of fuel near Cuba in June 2013. The Cuban coast guard towed the Billy G to Moa, Cuba, where the captain and five crew members — Eddie Bodden, Feliz Terrero, Francisco Ortega, Marcelino Susana, Victor Lacayo Lopez and Julio Bringuez — were simply stuck, some with untreated injuries.
"During that year they ate rats and insects in order to survive," U.S. District Judge Robert Scola wrote. After months without food, money or supplies, they were repatriated to their home countries.
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