Cruise Ship Accident Lawyer Blog

A passenger ferry making the regular crossing to the Statue of Liberty made a hard landing, which resulted in a number of injuries to the passengers onboard. As a popular tourist destination that hosts international visitors and Americans from all over the country, it is likely that those involved were from a wide variety of locations, including Miami, Florida.

According to the Maritime Executive, the incident occurred on Aug. 27, 2013 in the afternoon, and the exact cause of the hard landing remains unknown. However, it has been confirmed that 497 passengers and nine crew members were onboard the ferry, which was travelling from New Jersey to Liberty Island when the incident happened. Although the initial report stated that the accident resulted in nine maritime injuries, some reports show this figure is too low.

Injuries at Sea

Injuries that occur at sea are more common than most people think. There are so many potential unexpected occurrences and hazards that it is hard to prepare for all of them. Those who work at sea are at a particularly high risk of personal injury because of the increased amount of time spent on the water. Ferry and cruise ship passengers are also at risk as has been demonstrated in the incident at the Statue of Liberty. In Miami, Florida, a substantial number of residents work on the coast, so there is a fairly high rate of maritime injury.

In many ways, the passengers onboard during this incident were fortunate because only minor injuries were sustained. However, in the last few years, there have been many cases of cruise ship accidents that were much more devastating.

Maritime law covers several areas, one of which is personal injury to passengers. Maritime injury is not well understood by most people, but if you have been affected by an accident and have sustained a personal injury at work, as a passenger on a ferry, while riding on a cruise ship or while partaking in water sports, you may be owed compensation.

Gerson & Schwartz: Miami Maritime Injury Lawyers

Contact Gerson & Schwartz, P.A. a Miami Florida-based law firm that has many years of experience representing individuals who have suffered injuries at sea. If you or someone you know has sustained such an injury, call 877-475-2905 for a free consultation with one of our attorneys. You can visit our website for information about maritime injuries.

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Cruise ships can be a great way to explore foreign lands and see the world, however, a dream vacation can become a nightmare if something goes wrong while traveling abroad. Problems that arise while cruising internationally can be particularly difficult, as travelers often don’t speak the native language or have any familiarity with the area. Disturbingly, many cruise lines will do little or nothing to assist passengers that run into problems while traveling abroad and, in some extreme cases, will abandon individuals altogether.

This is exactly what happened recently to an elderly couple, Jill and Dodge Melkonian, from Clearwater Florida who were passengers aboard an Azamara Club Cruise in Turkey. On August 19, 2013, Dodge fell aboard the ship and broke his hip. The ship dropped the Melkonians in Bartin, Turkey, so Dodge could receive medical treatment at a local hospital.

To the couple’s dismay, the ship abandoned the couple in Bartin, and, when they asked the cruise liner to assist in having Dodge transferred to another hospital in Istanbul, they were informed they would have to file a written claim against their traveler’s insurance.

According to a statement given by Dodge, none of the hospital staff spoke English, the hospital was dirty, and, due to Turkish custom, women were not permitted to enter the hospital room. In addition, the hospital was not equipped to perform reconstructive surgery on Dodge’s hip. Fortunately, Dodge was eventually transferred to an American hospital in Istanbul with aid from the United States Embassy.

When asked about the situation, U.S. Senator Bill Nelson from Florida, stated, “[I]t’s outrageous that they would leave an elderly couple in a foreign country without adequate support. Royal Caribbean has a responsibility to take care of their passengers, even when they have to put them in a foreign hospital.”

Tammy Levent of Elite Travel, the agency which handled the Melkonians travel arrangements, expressed concern for Dodge, “The man could be dying. He is 89 years old with a broken hip. You have insurance, shouldn’t it cover you? They drop you in a hospital that’s not capable of even doing the surgery.”

Passengers of international cruises are usually required to file legal claims in Florida courts, which can be inconvenient and expensive for many travelers, most of whom don’t live in the state. This is because the relationship between the cruise line and passengers is outlined in the passenger ticket contract, which generally requires claims against the cruise company to be filed in a Florida court.

As this blog has mentioned before, because cruise ship claims are subject to different laws and much shorter statutes of limitations, sometimes as short as one year, they are best handled by experienced cruise ship accident attorneys.

The Florida cruise ship accident attorneys of Gerson & Schwartz, P.A. are licensed to practice law in all of Florida’s state and federal courts and have been representing the victims of cruise ship negligence for over four decades. If you or someone you know has been injured in a cruise ship accident or has been the victim of a crime while on a cruise ship, contact the Miami, Florida personal injury attorneys at Gerson & Schwartz, P.A. today.

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The last thing on a person’s mind when they depart for their dream cruise vacation is the possibility that they will become the victim of a crime while sailing the seas. However, many cruises ships are essentially floating cities, and, as such, often experience incidents of criminal activity.

According to a statement made by Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI Salvador Hernandez to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in 2007, 207 criminal incidents were reported to the FBI by the U.S. Coast Guard and Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) that year. The reports were broken down into eight categories according to the nature of the incident: homicide, suspicious death, missing U.S. national, kidnapping, assault with serious bodily injury, sexual assault, firing or tampering with vessels, and theft greater than $10,000.

At the time of the statement, there had been no reports of homicide, suspicious death or kidnapping aboard CLIA ships, however, disturbingly, there were 41 reported instances of sexual assault accounting for fifty-five percent of the violent crimes that were reported. Further, there were a reported thirteen assaults resulting in “serious bodily injury.”

There are a number of problems that cruise ship officials face in attempting to investigate and prevent such crimes from occurring on board ships. Because most ships have no formal police force, any evidence of a crime will likely not be properly preserved, the scene of the incident may be contaminated, and if an investigation does occur, it will be delayed until the actual police become involved which, some cases, may take days.

As this blog has discussed before, all businesses owe patrons a certain duty of care. However, because cruise liners are considered “common carriers,” they owe their customers a greater duty of care. Cruise companies have a duty to provide a safe environment for their passengers, and the failure to do so may entitle the injured party to compensation.

There is, however, a different standard for criminal acts committed against passengers by cruise ship employees. Under general maritime law, cruise liners are strictly liable for the intentional, wrongful, and criminal acts of their employees, such as in a rape or sexual assault. This means that a cruise ship company may be found liable for the criminal acts of its employees without a finding of fault, such as negligence.

As this blog has mentioned before, because cruise ship claims are subject to different laws and much shorter statutes of limitations, sometimes as short as one year, they are best handled by experienced cruise ship accident attorneys.

The Florida cruise ship accident attorneys of Gerson & Schwartz, P.A. are licensed to practice law in all of Florida’s state and federal courts and have been representing the victims of cruise ship negligence for over four decades. If you or someone you know has been injured in a cruise ship accident or has been the victim of a crime while on a cruise ship, contact the attorneys of Gerson & Schwartz, P.A. today.

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As this blog has recently discussed, the cruise ship industry suffered several big blows over the last year from the May evacuation of Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur of the Seas, due to an onboard fire, the grounding of Carnival ship Costa Concordia last January, a fire at on Carnival’s Triumph ship in February of this year, and mechanical issues with the Carnival Dream in March.

The increasing frequency of such incidents prompted the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, led by Senator Jay Rockefeller, to conduct a hearing last week to address a perceived lack of safety in the cruise ship industry. The hearing dubbed, “Cruise Industry Oversight: Recent Incidents Show Need for Stronger Focus on Consumer Protection” revealed several shocking facts about the cruise industry which raise serious concerns regarding the safety of cruising.

In March of last year, Senator Rockefeller held a hearing in an attempt to gather information from cruise industry officials regarding the reality of the safety of cruising. During the hearing, Christine Duffy, an official with the Global Trade Association, claimed that cruise industry authorities were moving to improve safety within the industry.

At least week’s hearing, Senator Rockefeller pointed to the rash of incidents occurring since the March hearing as demonstrative of the cruise industry’s failure to improve safety on its ships. Senator Rockefeller expressed a concern that, although serious incidents are reported, less serious occurrences such as onboard fires and mechanical failures are not. In an attempt to improve passenger safety, Senator Rockefeller has introduced legislation entitled the Cruise Passenger Protection Act, designed to close “gaps” in cruise industry consumer protection by broadening the federal government’s role in cruise industry oversight.

Some of the Act’s provisions would:

Make the CLIA Bill of Rights legally enforceable by passengers in court.
Require the U.S. Department of Transportation (“DOT”) to maintain a hotline and website where consumers can submit complaints about cruise lines.
Authorize the DOT to investigate consumer complaints regarding cancellations, delays, lost or damaged baggage, poor onboard ship conditions, and deceptive advertising.

Authorize the DOT to impose civil penalties of up to $25,000 per violation or up to $50,000 for repeat violations of established regulations.
Despite enhanced safety measures and new policies designed to ensure passenger safety, cruising can be a risky activity. Cruise ship accidents are becoming more and more common, rendering the rendering the need for experienced legal counsel for those injured in such accidents increasingly important. As this blog has mentioned before, because cruise ship accidents are subject to different laws and much shorter statutes of limitations, sometimes as short as one year, they are best handled by experienced cruise ship accident attorneys.

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Approximately six months ago, the world was shocked when Carnival cruise ship Costa Concordia, crashed into the rocks off the coast of Giglio Island, Italy, resulting in the deaths of thirty two individuals and injuries to dozens of others. Carnival and ship’s captain, Francesco Schettino, took heavy criticism for the botched evacuation efforts, which involved suffered from significant delays, allegations of bribery, and the captain’s early abandonment of the ship.

In response to the problems that plagued the Costa Concordia’s evacuation attempt, the European Cruise Council (“ECC”) and the Cruise Lines International Association (“CILA”) have adopted new safety policies designed to target two issues, evacuation and tracking of passengers during crisis situations. According to ECC and CILA leaders, the new measures will guarantee superior handling of passenger safety in instances of cruise ship accidents such as that of the Costa Concordia.

The first of the new policies, dubbed the Common Elements of Musters and Emergency Instructions, is intended to provide passengers with information as to how to proceed in the event of a crisis. The policy requires that cruiselines provide passengers with emergency instructions that include twelve common elements:

When and how to put on a lifejacket.
Where to find a lifejacket.
A description of emergency signals how to respond in an emergency situation.
The appropriate location to gather, or muster, when an emergency signal is sounded.
How to account for passengers for training and actual emergency purposes.
A description of the ship’s key safety systems and features.
How information will be relayed to passengers during an emergency situation.
What to expect during an evacuation of the ship.
Additional safety information that is available to passengers.
Identification of ship personnel to ask for additional information.
Whether passengers should return to their cabins prior to mustering, including specifics regarding medications, clothing, and lifejackets.
An account of emergency routing systems and how to identify emergency exits.

The second policy, titled the Nationality of Passengers Policy, requires that passengers be counted prior to departure, that the ship keep records of those passengers who have stated a need for special care or assistance in an emergency, that the ship keep a list of the names and gender of all persons on board, differentiating between adults, children and infants, and that all information be kept ashore and made readily available to search and rescue services.

Despite enhanced safety measures and new policies designed to ensure passenger safety, cruising can be a risky activity. Cruise ship accidents are becoming more and more common, rendering the rendering the need for experienced legal counsel for those injured in such accidents increasingly important. As this blog has mentioned before, because cruise ship accidents are subject to different laws and much shorter statutes of limitations, sometimes as short as one year, they are best handled by experienced cruise ship accident attorneys.

The Florida cruise ship accident attorneys of Gerson & Schwartz, P.A. are licensed to practice law in all of Florida’s state and federal courts and has been representing the victims of cruise ship accident for over four decades. If you or someone you know has been injured in a cruise ship accident, contact the attorneys of Gerson & Schwartz, P.A. today.

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Over the weekend, the cruise ship industry suffered yet another blow when the Royal Caribbean ship, Grandeur of the Seas, was crippled by an onboard fire on May 27, 2013, forcing passengers to evacuate and be diverted to the nearby Bahamas.

This episode occurs in the wake of several other incidents that have plagued cruise liners this year, including the grounding of Carnival ship Costa Concordia last January, a fire at on Carnival’s Triumph ship in February of this year, and mechanical issues with the Carnival Dream in March.

According to a recent article by the SeattleTimes.com, incidents such as equipment failures and fires are more common than many might think. Further, because many of the ships are registered in other countries, and therefore not subject to U.S. reporting requirements, many of these occurrences go unreported.

The shocking extent of problems afflicting the cruise ship industry has brought the issue of passenger safety and comfort to the forefront, forcing the cruise industry to take steps to address these concerns. Accordingly, on May 22, the Cruise Lines International Association, representing 25 major cruise companies, announced the adoption of a passenger Bill of Rights guaranteeing the “safety, comfort and care” of their travelers.
Among other things, the Bill of Rights offers full refunds for canceled voyages, the right for passengers to disembark a docked ship if essential provisions such as food and water cannot be provided, and guarantees that ships’ crews are properly trained in emergency and evacuation procedures.
According to Christine Duffy, president and CEO of the Cruise Lines International Association, “The Cruise Industry Passenger Bill of Rights codifies many longstanding practices of CLIA members and goes beyond those to further inform cruise guests of the industry’s commitment to their comfort and care.”
Although the cruise lines efforts to increase safety and passenger comfort are laudable, they will likely do little to prevent personal injury aboard ships. As this blog has discussed before, cruise ship injuries can be serious and often result from:

*Slip and fall accidents resulting from wet or slippery surfaces, or poor ship maneuvering.

*Tainted food resulting in serious illness.

*Inadequate medical care by unqualified individuals or with improper equipment.

Cruise ship accidents must be handled differently than ordinary personal injury cases, because they often arise under a different type of law, such maritime, admiralty, or contract law, and are subject to much shorter statutes of limitations to pursue a claim, sometimes as short as one year. Further, cruise companies often utilize various tactics to delay litigation, resulting in the degradation of evidence and, in certain cases, loss of the right to compensation.
The Florida cruise ship accident attorneys of Gerson & Schwartz, P.A. are licensed to practice law in all of Florida’s state and federal courts and has been representing the victims of cruise ship accidents for over four decades. If you or someone you know has been injured in a cruise ship accident, contact the attorneys of Gerson & Schwartz, P.A. today.

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