Maritime Injury Attorney Blog

The Carnival cruise ship Valor came to the aid of three Americans that were aboard a battered boat off the Cuban coastline.

The small boat encountered violent winds and waves which led to it becoming stranded. The passenger cruise ship came to the rescue of the three men and their cat. Guests aboard the Carnival ship watched in awe from all decks as the three men were pulled to safety. Some of the passengers captured the exciting rescue on video.

Passengers commented how it was a miracle that the cruise ship was able to save these men. Some passengers knew instantly that something was wrong because it was a rough day at sea and the small boat seemed out of place. Thankfully, the three men were okay and suffered no injuries.

The big and beautiful Carnival Splendor was all of a sudden being towed to San Diego back in November when a fire broke out in the engine room which disabled several of the ship's systems. The more than 3,000 passengers, who planned on be on the Mexican Rivera tanning, all of a sudden were on a powerless monstrous ship. Some passengers referred to it as a hell cruise.

Passengers were without air conditioning, hot food, flushing toilets and telephones for several days. Of Course, not what the 3000 plus passengers expected when they stepped foot on the ship. Visions of the Rivera were on the passengers' mind, not that they would soon be getting towed due to a fire onboard the ship.

A fire onboard a vessel can be devastating and very dangerous. The Rivkind, Pedraza and Margulies, P.A. firm handled a case involving a fire onboard a passenger ship that resulted in hundreds of passengers and crew being killed. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured aboard the Carnival Splendor.

The U.S. Coast Guard and Mexican Navy did provide some assistance and the 952 foot ship was finally able to be towed to San Diego, and passengers received full refunds, including reimbursement for transportation costs.

The ship stayed in San Diego for major repairs. This Friday a spokeswoman for Carnival Cruise Lines announced that the ship left under its own power to San Francisco for further repairs and that the Splendor is still on schedule to accept passengers on Feb. 20th.

Fire safety is a major focus of international regulations, including the safety of life at sea treaty. The cruise lines must comply with very stringent rules and regulations regarding fire safety. Although there have been a number of reported fires over the years, I have been handling maritime cases for over 25 years, and the number of serious injuries caused due to fires has been minimal.

Sometime shortly after the BP oil spill occurred in the Gulf of Mexico, Republican Senator John McCain and others tried to have the U.S. shipping Maritime laws repealed. The Jones Act, a federal statute that was enacted to protect seamen who get injured in the course and scope of their employment, was attacked. They stated that the law should be repealed because it would hinder the relief efforts due to restrictions on the operation of foreign flag ships in the cleanup efforts.

A federal law commission that was investigating the spill said in a report on Tuesday that the Jones Act law did not prevent foreign flag vessels from assisting in the clean up. If the current law was repealed than it would hurt trade lanes for goods being shipped from foreign countries. It would then require that all goods being shipped between the nation's ports to be transported by U.S. built vessels and sailed by American crews. The prices of course would then rise because we would be excluding foreign competitors. Some supporters for the Jones Act say that the law actually preserves security and the domestic maritime industries.

Shipping rates in other countries like Puerto Rico are already competitive so it would devastate a lot American hometown companies and cities like Jacksonville that would be affected.

The original reports were that the Jones Act actually was preventing foreign skimmers from assisting in the oil spill clean up. However, since it has proved otherwise, the Jones Act remained intact. If the Jones Act had been repealed as argued, reports suggest that at least half a million jobs in the maritime industry, including long shore shipbuilding, and other related industries, would have been threatened.

The lawyers of Rivkind, Pedraza & Margulies, P.A. regularly bring claims on behalf of seamen for personal injuries and wrongful deaths, and the Jones Act is the primary basis of recovery. It was enacted in 1920 as remedial legislation for the protection and welfare of workers. It provides for liberal recovery, relaxing the standard causation requirements typically applicable in personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits. The Jones Act also provides for a claim by a crewmember for failure to provide prompt, proper and adequate medical care and treatment.

A California resident filed a lawsuit this week against Princess Cruise Line, which is owned by Carnival Cruise Lines. The victim alleges in a lawsuit that a year ago she was vacationing aboard the Island Princess going from Acapulco to Florida when a crew member assaulted her.

The man, whose name is unknown, grabbed the victim and then began to grope her and try to kiss her, all before forcing her to go to a deserted part of the ship. The victim then claims she tried to escape her assailant but he physically prevented her from doing so. Once he had her in a more secluded area, he allegedly trapped her against a counter top, hiked up her skirt and further touched her inappropriately. The victim then was able to push the crew member off and escape.

The passenger on the cruise ship who was assaulted claims that she was not only attacked, but that her assailant has a "prior, similar incident of misconduct" while being employed aboard one of Princess' other passenger cruise ships.

Tragically, this is not the first time someone has complained and reported being sexually assaulted aboard one of Princess Cruise Lines ships. A previous incident was reported in March of 2009 when the FBI arrested a waiter in Los Angeles. The alleged claim came when the waiter was charged with aggravated sexual abuse after the victim had wine with him and then was assaulted. In this incident the waiter was afterwards acquitted claiming that the act was consensual.

An astonishing study by professor Ross Klein from Memorial University in Newfoundland, Canada found that, based on statistics provided by the U.S. Congress, passengers are nearly at twice the risk of being sexually assaulted on aboard a ship then they are on land. The study also showed that nearly 70 percent of the sexual assaults reported are by crew members against passengers.

Continue reading "Woman Claims a Princess Cruise Line Employee with a History of Sexual Misconduct Assaulted Her" »

A lawsuit filed in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court alleges that Celebrity Cruises passengers went on a cruise without knowledge that the cruise line had been experiencing problems with the ship's propulsion system. Apparently, the problems were ongoing and the passengers were not told the problems could affect their cruise. The lawsuit also alleges had the passengers been fully informed, they would have cancelled their voyage.

The cruise ship involved is the Celebrity ship called the Summit, which was a 13-day cruise along the West Coast and to Alaska. The ship carries approximately 2000 passengers.

The lawsuit alleges there were several prior problems of breakdowns which resulted in cancellations and interruptions in other cruises. The lawsuit also alleges the ship had to be sent to dry dock for emergency/unscheduled repairs on several other occasions.

The issues will be whether the cruise line breached their maritime duties to the passengers by sailing with these ongoing problems and at the same time advertising that the cruise was a "premium" cruise. The passenger's expectations were that they were sailing on a ship that did not have any issues at all with any of its mechanical systems. To the contrary, the expectations are that everything was working properly and that the cruise would be a totally enjoyable and memorable, as the cruise lines advertise.

Since passenger claims against the cruise lines are governed by the maritime law and passenger contracts, the cruise line has asserted affirmative defenses to the lawsuit which include provisions contained in the passenger ticket. As our firm has reported, the cruise lines often times will escape liability by affirmative defenses such as the claims are barred by the time limitations contained in the ticket or waiver of liability found in the passenger tickets. An experienced maritime lawyer will immediately refer to the ticket when considering any potential claims against a cruise ship company.

Continue reading "Lawsuit against celebrity cruises for failure to warn about mechanical problems seeks class action status" »

Over a hundred and fifty passengers reported sick onboard the Radiance of the Seas during a five day cruise. It is believed the passengers were suffering from what is considered to be the very contagious Noro Virus.

Symptoms of the Noro Virus include vomiting and diarrhea.

There have been numerous reports of outbreaks of the Noro Virus aboard cruise ships. The exact source and cause of the Noro Virus, and the exact reason there have been a number of outbreaks of the Noro Virus aboard cruise ships, is uncertain and debated. The cruise ship companies urge that the Noro Virus is common and is brought onboard the vessel by a passenger, and that the outbreak of the Noro Virus has nothing to do with the cruise lines breach of obligations of safety to the passengers.

Once there is an outbreak of the Noro Virus it is critical that the cruise line take proper precautions for the next cruise, including extremely careful sanitization of the ship.
More information regarding the outbreak of the Noro Virus can be found at the CDC (CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL).

Fortunately most of the time the illness is not extremely serious and is short term. The exact source of the Noro Virus is hard to determine and because the Noro Virus is not uncommon, it is difficult to establish any negligence on the part of the cruise line which led to the outbreak of the Noro Virus. A Maritime personal injury attorney can determine if there is any basis to pursue a claim for damages.

Another tragic incident involving a young crewmember occurred onboard the Holland-American Cruise ship, the MS Volendam. A 29 year old Indonesian crew member fell into the waters while working with lifeboats aboard the ship. There was a malfunction of equipment, which resulted in a cable breaking and the crew member fell into the water. Another crewmember was rescued and did not suffer major injuries. However the other crewmember could not be located and it was presumed he drowned.

Crew members have difficult and dangerous jobs. If they are injured or are killed during their work, the crew members, or their family members, have rights under the Jones Act and general maritime law to recover damages caused by negligence and unsafe conditions. Unlike state land based workers, who are limited to worker's compensation benefits, crew members have very special laws that apply to their claims. These laws recognize the dangerous occupation of a crew member and their dependence on the ship owner for a safe working environment. Our wrongful death firm has handled thousands of cases involving crew members who have been injured or killed onboard a cruise ship.

Here is a link to a post on Huffington Post by AJJ President Gibson Vance titled "Constitutional Conservatives and the Seventh Amendment"

The article discusses our Congress focusing on constitutional rights while at the same time overlooking the Seventh Amendment constitutional right to jury trials. The restriction on a constitutional right to jury trials can come in several forms, including tort reform, as well as one sided arbitration agreements.

In the context of bringing of claims by crewmembers injured aboard cruise ship companies, we are seeing an increasing number of employment agreements that insert mandatory arbitration clauses requiring a crewmember to bring any claims, including personal injury claims in an arbitration proceeding. Without the arbitration clause present in the employment agreement, the seaman or crewmember would be entitled to bring personal injury claims under a Federal Statute called the Jones Act, which provides for the right of a jury trial. The arbitration clause inserted in a take it or leave it employment agreement requires the crewmember to unknowingly give up his right to a jury trial.

There are many mandatory arbitration agreements that are inserted in consumer contracts, and other one sided type agreements. There is increasing concerns that these provisions take away the constitutional right to a jury trial and only benefit the party requiring the arbitration provision.

Hopefully, Congress, as well as the Courts, will pay attention to the attempts of big business and large corporations to deprive individuals of the constitutional right to a jury trial by inserting device mandatory arbitration clauses in the one sided agreements.

Our maritime firm has been fighting hard to deny enforcement of arbitration clauses in seaman employment contracts because they are unfair, one sided, and deny the seaman of his rights under the Jones Act, including the right to a jury trial.