Tragedy struck on the Illinois River near Morris, Illinois when a woman on a jet ski was sucked under a barge being pushed by a commercial towboat and severely injured. On September 14, 2025, around 6:30 p.m., a woman and a minor child were riding on a jet ski when they both went into the water. According to news articles, a bystander used another jet ski to rescue the child from the water, but the woman was sucked under the barges being pushed by the commercial towboat causing her to sustain serious, life-threatening injuries. Several agencies were on the scene to assist the IDNR to investigate the accident.
The commercial towing vessel, the M/V WISCONSIN, is owned by Marquette Transportation Company. At the time of the incident, the WISCONSIN was pushing eleven barges in front of it. On September 23, 2025, Marquette Transportation filed a Complaint in the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky in Paducah, Kentucky seeking exoneration or limitation of liability under the Limitation of Liability Act. The Limitation of Liability Act is a federal law that allows vessel owners to attempt to limit their liability arising from maritime accidents. Marquette Transportation’s Complaint asserts that the value of its interest in the vessels and pending freight was $5,600,336.00 and it asks the Court to limit its liability to that amount.
Marquette Transportation’s Limitation Act filing means that anyone seeking damages from this jet ski accident will likely have to file a claim in the Western District of Kentucky or risk losing the right to sue Marquette. Anyone interested in filing a claim against Marquette should immediately retain our Kentucky boating accident lawyer who regularly handles these unique types of maritime cases in the Western District of Kentucky, as Katz Law does.