Maritime Injury Attorney Blog

Ever play bumper cars? Well, it was not anyone's imagination, nor was it fantasy land. The Carnival Cruise Ship Imagination played bumper cruise ships with its sister ship, the Carnival Fantasy Cruise Ship, in the Key West harbor. The two ships are of the same class, type and size. The two ships struck stern to stern. There was very minor cosmetic damage. One could describe the incident as a fender bender on the high seas. As far as we know, no driver received a traffic citation and needs to make an appearance in court to explain their driving. However, I'm sure the people back in the offices at Carnival were quite shocked to hear that two of their own ships hit each other while maneuvering at the dock in Malory Square in Key West, Florida.

I was picturing the scene in the street when two cars are involved in a fender bender incident and both drivers are getting out of their cars and checking for damage to their vehicles. The drivers pointing the finger at each other blaming each other for the incident. Holding up traffic. Maybe screaming at each other. I then envisioned the commercial where the Allstate or State Farm representative appears on the scene to handle the situation. I am wondering what the two captains of the two ships will have to say to the higher ups when asked how this incident could have occurred.

Key West Coast Guard Commander, Captain Patrick DeQuattro was quoted as saying that something like this had not happened in recent history and that it was a very unusual incident.

As part of standard procedure, there will be alcohol and drug testing performed in accordance with the United States Coast Guard policy.

We will keep you posted regarding the Coast Guard's investigation into the incident. I'm wondering if points are going to be assessed against either captain for a traffic violation.

All kidding aside, fortunately it was a minor incident involving some minor cosmetic type damages and no one is reported to have suffered any type of personal injuries as a result of the incident.

Associated Press reported a California man has pled guilty in a U.S. Virgin Islands court to drug dealing onboard the Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship the Allure of the Seas.

I recently did a blog about a man who pled guilty to going on a cruise with the intent to perform elicit sexual acts and in fact sexually molested a minor child.

I have also blogged about sexual assaults and rapes onboard cruise ships, as well as disappearances. The most famous case involving a disappearance of a passenger on a cruise ship is the George Smith case. I represented the parents of George Smith. It is believed he was the victim of foul play during a cruise. An ongoing F.B.I. investigation has not been closed regarding the circumstances and cause of his death. However, early reports reflected that there was blood found in his cabin, as well as outside on the awning area underneath his balcony. A passenger in the cabin next door heard loud noises going on in the cabin as if a fight had been taking place. The last people who were known to be with George Smith were other passengers who later were kicked off the cruise after allegations of a sexual assault against them surfaced.

What does that all teach us? I have been handling maritime personal injury and wrongful death cases, including cases involving disappearances, rapes and sexual assaults for almost thirty (30) years. We have learned that sexual predators can be on a cruise ship, as well as drug dealers. The cruise line often states they are like a floating city. This means that along with the analogy to a floating city, comes the recognition that each week there is a potential of 2,000 or more passengers from all over the country coming onboard, one or more who may come aboard with the intent to commit a criminal act. Of course, there is another potential 1,500 to 2,000 crewmembers from all over the world onboard the ship. The cruise lines have a limited ability to do thorough background checks on all of these crewmembers.

The cruise lines have historically kept from the public the number of crimes committed onboard cruise ships. It hurts their image. Most of the major cruise line companies have big public relations departments. Everyone has seen the commercials advertising the cruise ships as the "fun ship", and creating the image of a carefree and safe vacation. Most people think a disappearance or a serious crime aboard a cruise ship is virtually nonexistent. At least, that was the thoughts prior to the George Smith incident receiving national and international attention, and spurring Congressional Hearings into safety issues onboard cruise ships. Eventually, President Obama signed into the law the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act on July 27, 2010.

Continue reading "Crimes on Cruise Ships" »

One cruise ship, the M/S Sea Orchestra, was reported to be in port in Oslo at the time of the explosion in downtown Oslo that occurred this past Friday which killed several people and caused extensive damage to governmental buildings.

CruiseCritic.com reported that the cruise line provided the following statement to them:

"M/S Sea Cruises reports that the cruise ship has not suffered any damages and that all passengers came back from excursions as planned. All guests are now safe onboard and the cruise will follow its original schedule."

It was also reported that a Costa cruise ship, the Coast Magica, changed its itinerary and cancelled their scheduled visit to the port in Oslo which was scheduled for Saturday. However, the cruise line will resume calls to Oslo next week.

Our hearts and prayers go out to all the people in Norway who are trying to cope with this tragic event.

We have all read about disappearances on cruise ships. The most well known case involves George Smith, who went missing on his honeymoon cruise on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship, the Brilliance of the Seas. George was on a honeymoon cruise with his bride, Jennifer Hagel Smith. They had just had a story book wedding. They were a beautiful couple. People said they were like the perfect couple that is on the top of a wedding cake.

How can someone go missing on a cruise ship, never to be found again? What follows such an incident in an effort to try to solve what happened? What are the possibilities of what can happen? Having represented the family of George Smith, who for the past six years have been seeking answers to what happened to George the night he was last seen in the cruise ship bar with his new bride and other passengers, we have experienced the horror and sorrow a family faces when trying to get answers. We have also handled several other cases where family members lost a loved one on a cruise ship. We have become all too familiar with the grief and sorrow of the family members and the last of closure they are able to get.

The Smiths had many questions as to what happened to their son. Where was his wife Jennifer when he disappeared? How did it happen? Was it a murder? Who was responsible? Why wasn't the FBI there sooner? Did the cruise line tamper with and cause the destruction of material evidence? These are questions the media addressed extensively following the disappearance. The case received national and international attention.

I will mostly discuss the George Smith case even though there have been many incidents of disappearances and people going overboard on cruise ships, never to be found. International Cruise Victims Association, a great organization composed of victims of crimes onboard cruise ships, as well as family members who have lost loved ones on a cruise, documents many incidents and discusses the frustration of victims and family members in trying to get answers to questions that arise after these terrible events occur. Kendall Carver, President of International Cruise Victims Association, lost his daughter when she disappeared aboard a cruise ship. He has never been able to solve the question of what happened to his daughter. The cruise ship company never reported it in time for a proper investigation to take place, and then the cruise ship company actually resisted his efforts to get information from the cruise, to help him solve the mystery. He had to hire his own investigator and spend thousands of dollars to get information, actually to find out that his daughter had disappeared during the cruise and the cruise line had sent her belongings to storage without reporting the incident. Kendall Carver appeared before Congress when I spoke and his experience in trying to get answers as to what happened to his daughter raised eyebrows in Congress and with the media and spectators. I was an invited speaker at the hearing that spearheaded further hearings which eventually led to the passage of cruise ship legislation called the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act, which was signed into law by President Obama on July 27, 2010.

Back to the question how to solve a case when a passenger does disappear aboard a cruise ship. The first thing is the prompt reporting of the incident to the authorities. Unfortunately, on a cruise ship, the proper authority to do the investigation is often a matter of uncertainty and debate, and as a result, valuable time is lost in the investigation. In addition, often times the authority that is contacted and who takes the lead may not really have the manpower, or the incentive, to conduct a thorough and appropriate investigation.

Continue reading "How to Solve a Cruise Ship Disappearance" »

Two years after Robert McGill, from Los Angeles, California, was escorted from the Carnival Cruise Line cruise ship Elation, he has pled guilty to the murder of his wife. Robert McGill now faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. He will be sentenced on November 8th.

It was two years ago that he was on a cruise with his wife, Shirley McGill. She was found dead in their cabin. The couple was celebrating Robert McGill's 55th birthday on the cruise.

Based on a news story out of San Diego, information obtained from court papers indicated that Robert McGill was "extremely intoxicated" and witnesses described him stumbling and barely able to walk. McGill had confessed to killing his wife in writing and also verbally to the ship's security officers and F.B.I. agents. F.B.I. agents had flown to the ship to investigate the death. An F.B.I. agent escorted Robert McGill off the ship and he was arrested in July of 2009. He had been married to his wife since 2003 and they were former high school sweethearts. He worked at Cash Risk Youths for the Los Angeles County Office of Education.

I have previously written about disappearances and crimes onboard cruise ships and the difficulty in proving what happened, which leads to the inability to prosecute anybody for a crime. In this particular murder onboard a cruise ship, not only was his wife's body discovered by the ship's personnel, but the husband has confessed to the murder.

While of course this is an isolated incident involving a criminal act by one spouse against another, there have been many disappearances and crimes reported which occurred onboard cruise ships, and they have received national attention over the years, especially following the disappearance of George Smith during his honeymoon cruise.

Continue reading "Husband Enters Guilty Plea for Killing Wife on Cruise Ship" »

An NTSB press release issued July 12, 2011 states that the probable cause of the 2009 collision that occurred in San Diego Bay between a United States Coast Guard patrol boat and a recreational motorboat was due to the excessive speed of the Coast Guard boat during nighttime conditions in an area of high vessel density. In addition, the NTSB determined the Coast Guard's ineffective oversight of its small boat operations nationally and at Coast Guard Station San Diego also was a cause.

The incident, which occurred on December 20, 2009, at approximately 5:40 p.m. in San Diego Harbor, involved a 33-foot Special Purpose Craft-Law Enforcement Coast Guard vessel that had five crewmembers aboard it, and a 24-foot Sea Ray recreational vessel carrying 13 people. The two vessels collided during an annual holiday boating event called the Parade of Lights.

The Coast Guard vessel was actually responding to a grounding when it struck the Sea Ray from behind. The grounding is not considered an emergency. As a result of the collision, an 8-year-old boy was killed and four other people were seriously injured. None of the crewmembers onboard the Coast Guard vessel were injured.

The NTSB press release states the Coast Guard boat was operating at a planning speed of at least 19 knots, possibly as high as 42 knots. NTSB Chairman Deborah A. P. Hersman said "It is especially sad that a family night of celebration in the Bay ended in tragedy because of a coxswain's poor judgment and the Coast Guard's ineffective oversight of vessel operations."

As to the finding regarding the lack of oversight of the small boat vessel operations, the NTSB stated that the Coast Guard Station San Diego lacked an effective oversight system to monitor the operation of their vessels while on patrol. If there had been proper monitoring, the accident could have been prevented. The Station's officer of the day, who was present on the Coast Guard vessel, did not advise the coxswain to slow down before the collision occurred.

Continue reading "NTSB Releases Findings in 2009 Collision in San Diego Bay" »

Six very lucky boaters were found at sea, rescued by a passing cruise ship off the Florida Coast.

These six can thank their lucky stars, as the chances of being found, after being lost at sea, can be very, very slim indeed. Here is a link, to an interesting article as to how our United States Coast Guard goes about the important task of finding people lost at sea.

Our firm continues to be safety advocates for individuals harmed at sea.

Her name is Rebecca Coriam. She is only 24 years old. She is from Guilden Sutton, which is located in Cheshire, England.

Rebecca chose to work onboard a Disney cruise ship which is registered in the Bahamas. She was employed to supervise children onboard the ship. Reports state that Rebecca was last seen onboard the passenger cruise ship, Disney Wonder, on March 21, 2011.

Unfortunately, as has become the typical scenario, the issue of which country should take the leads in the investigation surfaced and became a problem. The family learned that the police in the Bahamas did an investigation, but the Bahamian authorities stated the evidence did not suggest any "foul play". The question arises what type of investigation the Bahamian police really could have conducted to try to find this British citizen who went missing on a Disney cruise ship which was registered in the Bahamas as a flag of convenience.

Disappearances onboard cruise ships have gained much more national attention since the honeymooner, George Smith, went missing during his honeymoon cruise aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship. Legal commentators and experts voiced harsh criticism of the manner in which the disappearance was reported and investigated by the cruise lines, arguing that the critical passage of time and missing evidence thwarted the efforts of the authorities to solve the disappearance, which was labeled as likely involving foul play.

In this particular case, the Bahamian authorities has indicated there was no evidence to suggest "foul play", but again the issue of who should have conducted a thorough and complete investigation, the timing of that investigation, and how much evidence was actually gathered, remains at issue.

In a report from the BBC News out of the UK, it is indicated that a meeting with the shipping minister in the UK is going to take place. This incident is further calling to the attention of the authorities of other countries the need for legislation regulating criminal activity, including disappearances, that occur onboard these foreign flag cruise ships that sail all over the world, and carry passengers from all different locations in the world.

Continue reading "Family of Chester Woman Missing From Cruise Ship Seeks Answers" »

Please read my blog about an article stating that sexual assaults on a cruise ship are 50 percent more likely than on land in Canada.

Our firm continues to be safety advocates for individuals harmed at sea.

It has been reported that an Alaska cruise ship, the Sea Princess, reported the presence of the Noro virus aboard one of its cruises for the fourth time since the middle of May. It was reported that 2.4% of the passengers aboard the cruise ship were sickened by the virus, which is a gastrointestinal infection that causes diarrhea, vomiting and stomach pain.

The centers of disease control and prevention does not consider this an "official outbreak" since an alert is not issued by the CDC unless 3% of the passengers or crewmembers get stricken with the virus. However, this is the fourth time that it has been reported that passengers have been stricken with this virus on this ship. The second and third episodes of the Noro virus cruise did result in CDC issuing an alert.

The cruise ship company had to perform an extensive cleaning of the vessel. In a statement released by Princess Cruises, the operator of the ship, it was stated that "we did experience a number of passengers with Noro virus on three earlier Sea Princess cruises, but due to extra sanitation efforts and diligent communication with our passengers, no heightened occurrence of illness occurred on the June 9th cruise. We believe the reintroduction of the virus on the current cruise was inadvertently brought onboard by embarking passengers, as we know Noro virus is currently circulating widely throughout North America."

We have previously reported on this Noro virus, and much has been written about it, including whether it is preventable and whether the cruise ship environment creates an increased safety risk for this type of virus, or whether it is just simply a common virus that is occurs with no greater frequency aboard cruise ships than in other locations. It is difficult to prove negligence on the part of the cruise line relating to passengers getting stricken with this Noro virus. However, once the Noro virus does appear on the cruise ship, there must be very stringent cleaning and disinfecting requirements before the cruise ship should sail again with passengers onboard.

I am sure that Princess hopes the Noro virus does not purchase a ticket for another cruise with them any time in the near future. Cruise ship companies do not like adverse publicity. Most of the cruise line companies are known to have big public relations departments and do their best to promote the good sides of cruising, and do their best to down play any of the risks associated with cruising.

Our firm continues to be safety advocates for passengers and crewmembers who suffer harms at sea.

Not only was the Royal Caribbean passenger cruise ship, Oasis of the Seas, busy providing a pleasurable crew to its 2,000 plus passengers this past week, the Oasis of the Seas was busy making a rescue of Cuban rafters while the vessel was on its way back to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

The passengers on the cruise ship watched in amazement as a small raft carrying seven individuals, consisting of six men and one woman, was plowing through the deep blue seas.

The rafters were heading towards the finish line representing freedom here in America. According to United States policy, the rafters would have had to reach dry land before they could seek asylum. The cruise ship rescue of the rafters resulted in the individuals being turned over to the United States Coast Guard, and based on last reports, were still in the custody of United States Coast Guard.

United States Coast Guard might want to consider employing Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines to assist in picking up Cuban rafters before they hit dry land as another Royal Caribbean Cruise ship, the Allure of the Seas, rescued nine Cuban rafters in May.

It is quite a site to watch a 220 thousand plus ton ship rescue individuals in a small raft out in the open seas.

The recent rescue of the rafters was described by a passenger who said that the rafters were bailing out water from the raft and praying. I am not sure if their prayers were answered by the 220 thousand plus ton cruise ship or not as the rafters clearly wanted to complete their journey to dry land and seek asylum. However, if the rafters were bailing out water as reported by a passenger, and about to sink, they surely must believe in God when the prayers were answered by a huge cruise ship suddenly appearing and rescuing them, and providing them with food, water and medical treatment.

In the end one feels sorry though for the rafters who were so close to their freedom. The United States Cuban Immigration accord is referred to as the "wet-foot, dry-foot" policy, which means that if the Cubans can reach American shores they can stay in the United States while those who are caught at sea are sent back to Cuba or a third world country.

Our firm continues to be safety advocates for passengers and crewmembers who are injured at sea.