The body of the tugboat worker who had been missing since the vessel sank this week, has been found. The vessel, JR Nichols sank on Wednesday night. There were five workers on board and four were rescued from the water. The fifth crewmember had been missing for a few hours. The next morning, his body was recovered by salvage workers. The Coast Guard says it is continuing its investigation into the sinking of the tugboat.

The vessel was operated by Kinder Morgan. My heart goes out to the family of the worker here. A seaman’s family is always aware of the dangerous nature of the job their loved ones perform, but nothing can prepare you for how quickly these dangers can turn fatal. It will be weeks before the Coast Guard completes its investigation. The company will likely begin its own probe too.

Kinder Morgan must speed up investigations in order to find out what went wrong here. The family of the crewmember who died, as well as the four crewmembers who suffered hypothermia, will have plenty of questions about the incident. At this point, the company’s biggest priority must be finding the answers these people need.

Maritime lawyer Brian Beckcom is a Board Certified trial lawyer, whose primary focus is the representation of injured Jones Act seamen, tankermen, galleyhands, deckhands, drillers, oilrig workers, offshore workers and other maritime workers in accidents in Texas, around the country and in international waters.