Maritime Injury Attorney Blog

Following several Congressional hearings over the years which brought attention to our Congressmen for the need for additional safety requirements aboard passenger cruise ships, the Cruise Vessel and Safety Act was finally signed into law by President Obama on July 27, 2010.

A major concern to the Congressmen during Congressional Hearings was a report indicating that there were at least 350 known sexual assault incidents alone on Royal Caribbean Cruise Line ships during a 32 month period of time. During that time, there were no successful convictions arising out of any of the sexual assaults, pointing to a need for better investigation and reporting of these incidents as they occur. This would give law enforcement officials a better opportunity to gather the necessary evidence and prosecute the wrongdoers.

The legislation, although it can be debated whether the legislation went far enough, clearly is a step forward in improving safety to the millions of cruise ship passengers yearly who board a passenger cruise ship for what they intend to be a wonderful vacation.

The new safety legislation will require peepholes in the cabin doors of every passenger and crewmember, on deck surveillance, as well as requiring 42 inch guard rails.
As to the peep holes, they have become necessary because of the recognition of the significant number of criminal acts that have been taking place onboard passenger cruise ships, including sexual assaults and suspected foul play leading to disappearances of passengers.

Our maritime personal injury and wrongful death firm represented the parents of George Smith, who disappeared during his honeymoon cruise aboard the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line passenger cruise ship called the Brilliance of the Seas. Foul play was suspected from the beginning, and as of today, the disappearance has not been solved, and the FBI maintains an open file regarding the case.

Continue reading "President Obama Signs Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act Legislation Into Law For Added Safety Protections For Cruise Ship Passengers" »

In Philadelphia, a duck boat which is a sight-seeing bus that also operates as a seagoing vessel, was hit and run over by a barge, which resulted in two deaths and other injuries.

This is an example of a case that would fall under Maritime Law, and give any of the passengers or crew who were injured rights to seek compensation either under the laws applying to crewmembers, which would potentially involve Jones Act claims,

Unseaworthiness claims, and possible wrongful death claims. The passenger's cases would be governed by the Maritime Law which imposes legal obligations on the operators of both the tugboat and the passenger tourist duck boat.

The Coast Guard was investigating whether the barge owner complied with their obligations under the Maritime Law regarding having a proper lookout, and whether the passenger duck boat followed proper maritime procedures by operating their boat in a reasonably safe manner, and taking the appropriate actions to avoid the collision.

Anytime there is a collision between two boats or vessels involving Maritime Law, there is usually an apportionment of fault between the two ships involved in the collision.

The two passengers who died during the collision would potentially result in wrongful death lawsuits by the beneficiaries of the Estates, involving Maritime Law claims. Anyone injured, would also have claims for their personal injuries suffered onboard the passenger boat.

As is standard when these types of collisions occur, the NTSB is investigating, and at some point and time there will be a full report by the NTSB which will contain findings of facts and conclusions of law, which become very helpful to the Maritime injury attorney handling any cases arising out of such collisions. Our maritime personal injury firm has handled many maritime claims arising out of collisions involving both commercial vessels as well pleasure watercraft and boats.

Legislation currently pending with the Senate to address various Maritime Laws, including the Limitation of Liability Act, the Jones Act, and the Death on the High Seas Act, has been postponed due to opposition to the legislation which was passed by the House.

The deep water horizon BP Oil spill has brought attention to the specialty of Maritime Law. Maritime Law issues have been discussed daily in the newspapers, and lawmakers are getting their first taste of special Maritime laws that have been on the books for decades.

Some of the Maritime Laws being addressed are ancient, outdated, and inconsistent with our system of justice which is designed to fully and fairly compensate victims of accidents and deaths caused by negligence or fault of another.

One of the laws seeking to be changed is the existing 75 Million Dollar cap for those who own offshore facilities that are responsible for oil spills, which is a limitation under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. The BP Oil spill has brought to light the need to reform this law and other laws.

The Death on the High Seas Act and the Jones Act, both restrict the type of damages that injured seamen or surviving family members of those killed at sea may collect from shipowners. The Death on the High Seas Act also applies to passengers, including passengers aboard cruise ships. When someone loses a loved one aboard a vessel or ship, the survivors are limited to recovering economic damages such as the loss of support. They are not allowed to seek punitive damages regardless of the recklessness of the conduct, nor are they allowed to recover what the law refers to as loss of society damages, which are the non economic damages which are designed to compensate for the anguish and sorrow of losing a loved one.

Continue reading "Legislation To Amend Death On The High Seas Act And Other Key Maritime Laws Postponed" »

Carnival Cruise Lines confirmed that a 14 year old passenger aboard the Carnival Cruise Line passenger cruise ship VICTORY was shot during a shoreside excursion the teenager was on in Coki Point Beach, St. Thomas. Apparently it was a very popular area in St. Thomas.

The teenager was with her parents on a safari bus at the time of the shooting. She was caught in a cross fire during a shootout reported to have been taking place between local gang members.

While this tragic incident appears to be a random act of violence, under the Maritime Law if a cruise line has knowledge of an unsafe area that passengers may travel to during a cruise, there would be a duty to warn the passengers of any such dangers. Therefore, if the cruise line was aware, or should have been aware, of an unsafe area at one of the ports the cruise line takes its passengers to, they would have a duty to warn the passengers of the dangers.

A Maritime Law case previously held that a cruise line could be responsible for a shooting of a passenger at a port where the cruise line knew or should have known that the area the passengers foreseeably traveled to was an area that was known to have a lot of criminal activity.

Under the Maritime Law, the cruise ship owes passengers a duty to exercise reasonable care under the circumstances, and that duty would include warning passengers of any dangers known to the cruise line that may risk the safety or lives of the passengers.

Continue reading "A 14 Year Old Passenger Aboard A Cruise Ship Was Tragically Killed During A Gun Fight While On A Shoreside Excursion" »

Recently, on a Fox television show John Stossel was interviewed. John Stossel was regularly on the television show 20/20, and has for many years attacked personal injury lawsuits and personal injury attorneys. I am not sure of his motivation for doing so. I heard rumors that he had a brother who was a doctor who had been sued and maybe he has a bias against being held accountable for mistakes. It was interesting in the clip that he is asked by the interviewer about a time when he sued a boxer for hitting him. A perfect statement was made about that by the interviewer. She said you can hate lawyers until you need a lawyer.

It is interesting that he publishes such a story in the wake of the BP oil spill disaster, which more than ever demonstrates the need for full accountability, and the necessity of all types of lawsuits, including personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits. Companies must be held accountable for their mistakes, and thank God for personal injury and wrongful death lawyers helping families and victims of accidents.

Our firm has helped thousands of victims of accidents, including all types of personal injury cases, accidents, wrongful death, sexual assaults, food poisoning, slip and fall accidents, automobile accidents, and victims of medical negligence.

Of course companies do not want to be held accountable, and the best defense is a good offense. Therefore, attack the lawyers and all personal injury lawsuits, as this newscaster is attempting to do. We have helped thousands of victims receive fair and just compensations for claims against the cruise ship companies for their wrongful acts, including helping families who lost loved ones due to a disappearance onboard a cruiseship. Our firm represented the parents of George Smith, the honeymooner who disappeared during his honeymoon cruise aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship. The parents utilized the legal system not just to seek compensation for their tragic loss, but in an attempt to obtain critical and useful information in order to find out what happened to their son. We have helped other families who have lost loved ones onboard passenger cruise ships.

When I first watched the interview of John Stossel attacking personal injury lawsuits, it infuriated me because he simply gives a few examples of what may be an abuse of the system, as is present in any system. However, he fails to focus on the entire purpose of personal injury lawsuits and wrongful death lawsuits, which is to hold people accountable through our court system by holding them responsible for their negligence, and causing positive change in our society by making products safer, cruise ships safer, drugs safer, and providing for an overall safer society.

Continue reading "Newscaster Attacks Personal Injury Lawsuits" »