Philadelphia-based law firm Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky (SMB) has renewed its call for a ban on all tourist "duck boat" operations after numerous passengers on a disabled Boston Duck Tours amphibious vehicle were injured when it flipped on its side while being towed from the Charles River, according to numerous published reports.
"We have long maintained that duck boats – designed to replicate World War II landing craft - are inherently unsafe, have been demonstrated to be deathtraps – in and out of the water – and should be banned once and for all," said SMB Attorneys Robert J. Mongeluzzi and Andrew R. Duffy.
"We hope and pray for the injured in [the] incident and that regulators prohibit renewed operations until passenger and public safety can be assured."
The incident involving the Boston Duck Tours boat Molly Molasses occurred on Saturday, June 27, as it was being towed onto a ramp with 31 people on board. The operator said the tow rope suddenly broke, causing the vessel to roll onto its side.
Eleven people who were on the boat suffered injuries from the mishap. One eyewitness told local outlet NewsCenter 5 that a number of people who were on the boat appeared to be bleeding.
Tom Vigna, Boston Duck Tours Director of Marketing and Sales, said that the company is working with the US Coast Guard and the Massachusetts State Police to review the incident.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), duck boats are unique vessels with special challenges that must be addressed to ensure passenger safety. These require greater stability and reserve buoyancy, canopy and seatbelt removal before waterborne operations and training for crews.
The NTSB first identified these safety issues in 1999 with the sinking of the duck boat Miss Majestic in Hot Springs, Arkansas, in an incident that claimed 21 lives. Corrective actions were subsequently recommended by the board.
The NTSB said the recommended actions following the Miss Majestic incident were not acted on. The recommendations were again made following the July 17, 2018 sinking of Stretch Duck 7 (pictured) in Branson, Missouri, after another 17 lives were lost.
Attorneys Mongeluzzi and Duffy led SMB's legal team that represented the victims of the Stretch Duck 7 tragedy and the victims of the earlier Duck Boat 34 incident that resulted in the deaths of two passengers in Philadelphia on July 7, 2010.