NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — The wife of a crew member on the Seacor Power liftboat has filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit in Houston following the presumed death of her husband.
Hannah Daspit, the spouse of Dylan Daspit is suing Seacor Marine LLC, Seacor Liftboats LLC, and Talos Energy LLC.
Daspit is one of seven men still missing from the vessel which capsized in the Gulf of Mexico on April 13 eight miles off the coast of Port Fourchon.
In all, 19 people were on the boat, six were rescued and so far, six have been found dead.
The lawsuit is seeking damages in excess of $25 million and claims the defendants violated the ‘Jones Act.’
The Act governs maritime law, negligence, and gross negligence, and the “unseaworthiness of the vessel.”
The suit claims that “despite dangerous weather conditions then existing in the Gulf of Mexico, the SEACOR Power, at the direction and control of the charterer Talos, left Port Fourchon, Louisiana, with disregard for the deteriorating weather and the lives of the crew members on board the vessel.”
According to the lawsuit, when the Seacor Power left Port Fourchon, “the National Weather Service was already warning of tropical storm-force winds accompanied by suddenly higher waves in the Gulf.”
“Despite these warnings,” says the lawsuit, “the vessel left port to deliver equipment to a nearby platform putting money over safety and the lives of the men on board.”
Since the incident, Daspit and her father-in-law Scott have searched for Dylan.
The suit says, “Dylan Daspit suffered unspeakable fear, terror, and pain — then lost his life.”
Daspit leaves behind his wife and two young children.
Read the full lawsuit: