Mississippi seaman awarded $4.9 million in negligence case

Texas-based Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. was ordered by a jury to pay $4.9 million to a Mississippi seaman injured on one of its semi-submersible platforms.

JP Upton, 30, filed a negligence suit after receiving serious injuries to his spine, ribs and left arm aboard the Ocean Yorktown on Mar. 10, 2010 in operations in Brazilian waters.

Upton was hurt while assisting in the installation of a compensator after being ordered  to get into a riding belt which suspended him in the air.

He was subsequently thrown 20 feet in the air when the equipment malfunctioned. The impact from hitting the deck knocked him unconscious for 25 minutes.The defendant was found guilty of gross negligence and unseaworthiness due to lack of proper training.

Less than a month later, two persons were killed and two critically injured following an accident on another Diamond vessel in Brazil, the Ocean Ambassador.

Source: The Ghostly Galleon.com