Cruise Ship Accidents/Incidents

Rape and Sexual Assaults on Cruise Ships

January 15, 2016 | by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

Instances of rape, sexual assault, and other sex crimes occur frequently on cruise ships. Just last year a cruise ship employee used a master key to enter the room of a female passenger. He hid on the room’s balcony until she returned. On her return to the room, she went to bed and was awakened by the intruder. The crewmember began choking her. The passenger fought for her life in every way she could by biting him and stabbing him with a corkscrew. The passenger was sexually assaulted, punched, and beaten with a laptop and a curling iron. She incurred brain injuries, fractures to her skull, spine, and face, and numerous bite marks. The crewmember even tried to snap the passenger’s neck. The crewmember tried to kill her. He became nervous when other passengers began knocking on the door and jumped off the balcony to the lower level in hopes of getting away. He was eventually caught.

Maritime law holds cruise lines strictly liable for the intentional, wrongful, and criminal acts of their employees. This includes rape and sexual assault. Rules of law governing conduct on cruise ships can be complex. To add to the complexities, cruise ships are governed by federal law, not state law, when the cruise ship is more than three nautical miles out at sea. If you or a loved one is a victim of a crime on a cruise ship, it is important that you seek the representation of an experienced maritime law attorney. The Miami, Florida maritime lawyers at Gerson & Schwartz PA have experience filing claims against all the major cruise lines.

The Cruise Ship Vessel Security Act of 2010

11-Year-Old Girl Molested on Disney Cruise

January 7, 2016 | by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

Last December, a Honduran man was arrested after allegedly fondling an 11-year-old girl aboard the Disney Magic cruise ship. The ship disembarked from Port Miami for a weekend long cruise. While aboard the ship, the girl told her parents that the man, 31-year-old Palma Ortega, had fondled her three times. If you or someone you love was the victim of sexual assault on a cruise ship, consider contacting a Miami Cruise Ship Sexual Assault Attorney.

Miami-Dade police are charging Ortega with three counts of lewd and lascivious molestation of a minor, and he is being held without bond. Upon detention, Ortega confessed to the crime. In the state of Florida, the lewd or lascivious molestation of a child under 12 is a felony punishable by 25 years to life in prison. The man is also on an immigration hold and may be subject to deportation.

It is not clear yet whether or not Ortega was a crewmember of the Disney cruise line, but regardless, the cruise ship company does not have the best track record of responding to sexual assaults by their crew members. In 2013, a similar event took place, where an 11-year-old girl was groped by a dining room employee on the Disney Dream cruise ship while the ship was docked at Port Canaveral. Local police could not arrest the man because Disney did not report the assault until the next day. Instead of receiving justice, the man was sent back to his home country of India.

Cruise Ship Crew Member Dies in Elevator

January 1, 2016 | by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

While the exact details of the accident are still under investigation, what is clear is that a crew member died in a Carnival Ecstasy elevator while passengers caught glimpses of the gruesome scene. The ship was in the last legs of a Caribbean cruise departing from Miami when Florida residents Matt Davis and his wife were walking toward the elevator and noticed it was malfunctioning, only partly open and dripping with a copious amount of blood. When they alerted the cruise ship’s staff, they were told to leave the scene and enter the restaurant.

Miami-Dade police are currently investigating the freak accident that killed electrician Jose Sandoval Opazo, 66, of Liguria, Italy. Carnival Cruise Line has been reluctant to provide many details regarding the incident but do extend their support to the victim and his family. Witnesses of the accident say that crew members told them that Opazo was working either inside or behind the elevator when the elevator came down. If you were injured or lost a loved one aboard a cruise ship consider contacting a Miami Cruise Ship Accident Attorney.

Carnival Cruise Line has been fraught with controversy surrounding various catastrophic accidents in recent years. In 2012 the Costa Concordia capsized off the coast of Italy, killing 32 people. The cause of the accident was the hubris of the ship’s captain who intentionally steered the ship too close to shore. In 2013 the Carnival Triumph caught fire, which knocked out the ship’s power, leaving the cruise stranded for four days without working toilets.

Eight-Year-Old Boy Drowns in Cruise Ship Swimming Pool

December 25, 2015 | by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

While aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, an 8-year-old boy drowned in one of the ship’s swimming pools. The ship named “The Liberty of the Seas” was traveling from Galveston, Texas to Cozumel, Mexico when the tragedy occurred. The child’s body was discovered by one of the passengers and removed from the pool. A member of the ship’s medical team performed CPR on the child for over an hour but was unsuccessful. If you were injured or lost a loved one in a cruise ship accident, consider contacting a Miami Cruise Ship Accident Attorney.

Despite the many risks involved with swimming children, most cruise lines do not have lifeguards stationed at their family pools. It is telling that in this situation a passenger and not a cruise ship employee had to be the one to first attempt to rescue the boy from the pool.

While signs are always posted to warn passengers to swim at their own risk, it makes you wonder if that is enough to protect children on cruises. Especially when you consider the scenario of a long cruise where there are many opportunities for a child to be separated from his or her parent and swim unsupervised, the lack of lifeguards is baffling.

Cruise Ship Season in Florida Could be Bigger than Last Year

December 18, 2015 | by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

Cruise ship season has begun in Florida. As cruise ships leave the coasts of Europe and Alaska, seeking warmer waters in Florida and the Caribbean, many Americans are choosing cruise ships as the venue for their wintertime vacations. Cruise lines have been reporting increased numbers of bookings from last year, with Carnival Cruise Corp. boasting a 20% increase in early 2016 bookings from the previous year. With an increased number of Americans choosing to sail on cruise ships comes increased numbers of accidents that cruise ship companies could be liable for. If you were injured or lost a loved one aboard a cruise ship, contact an experienced Miami Cruise Ship Accident Attorney today.

Cruise Ship Season in Florida

Cruise ship season in Florida typically stretches from November until April. Americans suffering cold winters flock to Florida for reprieve from blizzards and subzero temperatures. 62% of all people who have left the US on a cruise ship has done so through a Florida port. With Hurricane season ending in October, the winter months are some of the safest times to travel the sea.

$21.5 Million Verdict Against Holland America Cruise Line for a Faulty Door

December 11, 2015 | by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

A US District Court in Seattle awarded $21.5 million in damages to a man from Illinois who suffered injuries from a faulty door on a Holland America cruise ship. The man received a minor brain injury after a sliding glass door closed on his head. The sum was awarded by a unanimous decision by a jury after a nine day trial. If you were injured or lost a loved one aboard a cruise ship, consider contacting a Miami Cruise Ship Accident Attorney.

The attorneys for the injured man were able to provide evidence to the court that other passengers had been similarly injured by sliding glass doors in multiple Holland America cruise ships. Faulty sensor settings on the door allegedly are what contributed to these accidents.

The Illinois man was traveling with his family on a 280-day world cruise aboard Holland America’s Pacific fleet flagship, the M/S Amsterdam. The ship was in open water, approaching Hawaii, when the man followed cruise ship employees through the sliding glass door, which automatically closed when the man was half way through, striking him in the side of the head and face. Holland America argued in court that the man had walked into the closing doors and that the doors did not close on him. The closing doors gave the man a facial contusion, concussion and chipped tooth. Despite his injuries the man was still able to finish the entire cruise journey.

Pre-Paid Beverage Plans Could be Making Cruise Ships More Dangerous

December 4, 2015 | by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

Pre-paid beverage plans offered by most of the major cruise lines could be putting profits ahead of passenger safety. These plans, which offer unlimited alcoholic beverages to passengers for a set price, encourage passengers to drink more than they would if they paid for each drink individually. If you were injured or lost a loved one due to the negligence of cruise line companies, contact an experienced Miami Cruise Ship Accident Attorney today.

Cruise ships inherently possess greater dangers than most bars and common drinking establishments. Slippery surfaces, narrow staircases and the ever present perils of the high seas can lead to serious injuries and even death especially when coupled with heavy alcohol consumption.

In the last few months alcohol was a contributing factor in at least one cruise ship death. On a Royal Caribbean cruise that disembarked from Miami, an intoxicated man involved in an argument with cruise ship employees fell off the side of the ship onto a lifeboat and later into the sea. The man was never found, even after extensive search and rescue efforts by the coast guard.

FBI Investigating Falling Death of Woman on Miami Cruise Ship

November 20, 2015 | by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

The FBI is investigating the death of a South Carolina woman after she fell from the deck of a cruise ship into the ocean off the coast of Cuba and was not found by the coast guard and cruise ship personnel. The Norwegian Cruise Line vessel was on a course from Miami to Cozumel, Mexico when the accident occurred. Authorities searched over 600 nautical miles for the woman before giving up search and rescue efforts. The FBI was called in to determine if there was any foul play or negligence that could have caused the incident. If you were hurt or lost a loved one aboard a cruise ship contact a Miami Cruise Ship Accident Attorney.

Can the Cruise Line be Held Responsible?

While not all the facts regarding this case have been discovered, could cruise liners hypothetically be responsible in these types of situations? In most cases, cruise ships are considered “common carriers,” which means that they have a responsibility to their passengers beyond just reasonable care. Cruise liners must take a very high degree of precaution to prevent injury or deaths aboard their ships and failure to do so could land them with a personal injury or wrongful death suit.

Cruise Ship Passenger Falls to His Death, Now Family Plans to Sue

November 13, 2015 | by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

In a tragic accident caught on video, a passenger of a Miami-based Royal Caribbean cruise liner fell off the ship and remains lost at sea. The family of the victim plans to sue the cruise line, citing that their version of events do not match the official statement given by Royal Caribbean. If you or someone you love was the victim of a cruise ship accident contact an experienced Miami Cruise Ship Accident Attorney.

About the Accident

According to Channel 8 News, a local Miami news station, the passenger fell from the balcony of his room, falling about 20 feet onto one the ship’s lifeboats. After hanging from the lifeboat for some time, while cruise ship employees attempted to rescue him, the man fell into the rough waters below. The man still remains missing at sea and is presumed dead.

Common Sources of Cruise Ship Disasters

November 6, 2015 | by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

Most accidents on a cruise ship could take place anywhere. Whether it is a slip and fall or any other premises liability mishap, cruise ship passengers usually face the same risks they would on land. There are some unique dangers present due to the unpredictability of the high seas that can leave you injured and needing an experienced cruise ship lawyer.

Rough waters and oncoming storms are some of the risks for which the cruise ship crew should be prepared. Through tight communication with the coast guard, most of these sea-born dangers can be avoided and mitigated. But sometimes, due to negligence, apathy or conceit, the cruise ship could be set on a course that is unsafe for both the ship’s employees and its passengers.

We have all heard of the Costa Concordia disaster, where a cocky captain maneuvered the ship too close to shore to enjoy a nice view, hit an underwater rock, and caused the ship to capsize. Most cruise ship disasters occur in different, more common scenarios.