Doomed boat focus of recent suit

Less than one month before the Misty Blue sank, a Fairhaven fisherman filed a $1.5 million lawsuit charging he was seriously injured in September as a result of the captain and crew’s negligence.

Joseph G. Abromovitz, the attorney for seaman Matthew Lyons, said the expectant first-time father would have been aboard the doomed boat this week alongside his now-missing friend Michael Roberts.

Lyons’ civil action was brought against the Misty Blue and New Jersey-based Sea Harvest, Inc., on Nov. 8 in U.S. District Court in South Boston. The case has since been assigned to a judge and summonses have been issued, court records show.

Sea Harvest is an operating division of Atlantic Capes Fisheries that deals with vessel management, according to Atlantic’s website.

Abromovitz said the Fairhaven-based Misty Blue was docked and her crew offloading clams on Sept. 15.

As Lyons was emerging and stepped off a ladder, Abromovitz said he was trying to maneuver around the captain when “he stepped on a section of decking around the hatch that gave way and he fell 12 to 13 feet into the hold and shattered his heel.”

But Danny Cohen, owner of Atlantic Capes Fisheries, countered, “there was no issue of unseaworthiness. They had not moved, they were not underway.

“Matthew was hurt at the dock when he inadvertently stepped ... he thought he was stepping on the deck, but he stepped into the hold and broke his heel,” Cohen said. “Like any other crewman, we are in the process of helping him get better.”