Naknek Barge Lines Deckhand Killed on Naknek River

Twenty year old Spencer Vaughn Brewer of Seattle, Washington, was tragically killed on June 29, 2016 while attempting to free a barge mooring line from one of three barges located at the mouth of the Naknek River in Bristol Bay, Alaska. Brewer, employed by Naknek Barge Lines as a deckhand, arrived at the barge mooring area from Egegik aboard the Tug CROSS POINT. When the mooring line became fouled beneath a bouy, Brewer, wearing a PFD, climbed aboard the bouy; but was knocked into the water when one of the barges was pushed into the bouy by strong and turbulent currents associated with the outgoing tide. The current sucked Brewer underwater before he resurfaced between two of the barges. Tragically, the strong currents pushed the two barges together. Brewer was unable to move beneath the water and under the barges due to his PFD; and he was crushed. Brewer was recovered from the water and rushed to EMS responders who attempted CPR at the Peter Pan Seafoods Dock. Brewer could not, however, be revived.

Johnson & Associates, PC
PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF SEAMEN AND THEIR FAMILIES
Licensed in Alaska, Washington & Oregon