Missing crewman’s family files suit

The family of Matthew Brigalia, one of three crewmen never found after a Jan. 26 collision of tow boats on the Mississippi River, has filed a lawsuit in Orleans Parish, La. against Elite Towing of New Orleans and American River Transportation Co. (ARTCO) of Cairo, Ill. Brigalia served aboard the RC Creppel, which sank after being struck by the Cooperative Spirit near New Orleans shortly after 5:30 a.m. The Coast Guard searched 835 nautical miles for some 67 hours, but were unable to find the three missing mariners. Cooperative Spirit is owned by ARTCO, a wholly owned subsidiary of Archer Daniels Midland (ADM). RC Creppel is operated by Elite Towing. The Brigalia family is represented by Tony Clayton and Michael Fruge of the Louisiana law firm of Clayton, Fruge & Ward and Kurt Arnold, Caj Boatright, and Roland Christensen from the Houston firm of Arnold & Itkin. Arnold & Itkin successfully represented plaintiffs in maritime disasters, including the Deepwater Horizon explosion. (Source: Marine Link 02/05/20) ARTCO has a barge fleeting and switching operations based in Wickliffe, Ky., and provides fleeting and switching operations from mile 948 on the Lower Mississippi River to mile 29 on the Upper Mississippi and mile 974 on the Ohio River.