Law firm calls for "duck boat" ban following accident in Cambridge, Massachusetts

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.