Maritime Injury Attorney Blog

It was reported that today, March 30, 2012 a fire broke out aboard the cruise ship Azamara Quest. It's reported that the fire happened at approximately 8:19 p.m. on Friday.

Azamara Club Cruises, who operates the Azamara Quest, issued a statement saying: "On Friday, March 30, at approximately 8:19 p.m. ship time, Azamara Quest experienced a fire in the engine room. The fire was contained to the engine room and was quickly extinguished."

It is reported that there were no injuries to any passengers. The captain mustered all the guests at their assembly stations. It was reported that the cruise ship was operating on generator power until full power could be restored to the engine room.

I am sure the passengers were frightened and alarmed learning of a fire breaking out on the cruise ship. In view of the recent Costa Concordia disaster, we have been seeing a lot more publicity about problems on cruise ships, including fires. A fire onboard a cruise ship is not an unusual occurrence. It happens more than one would expect.

In addition, we have also learner that crimes onboard cruise ships happen at a much greater rate than previously known or expected, including sexual assaults. If you add to the problems on cruise ships the disappearances of passengers, the Costa Concordia disaster, fires, and the numerous other accidents reported onboard cruise ships, one does start to wonder just how safe these modern day cruise ships really are.

Luckily, at least as reported at this time, there were no injuries onboard the Azamara Quest.

We remain saddened by all the deaths that occurred onboard the Costa Concordia and what clearly was a needless disaster. One thing is clear, the cruise ship industry needs to be better regulated, and laws need to be changed to hold the cruise ship companies more accountable for personal injuries and wrongful deaths.

I will continue to fight for better laws which will provide greater protection and compensation to those injured or harmed at sea. Previously, I was honored to have been selected to testify at Congressional Hearings regarding cruise ship safety. I was invited as a maritime expert to present testimony on maritime laws and address questions relating to safety aboard cruise ships. Eventually, the Congressional Hearings led to passage of the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act, which was signed into law by President Obama. Although that was a positive step, the law does not appear to have enough teeth in it, and we haven't seen a lot of benefits from the enactment of the law. The International Cruise Victims Organization continues to press the Congress and the F.B.I. to make sure that the provisions in this safety act, including appropriate reporting of crimes onboard cruise ships, is complied with by the cruise ship industry. Most of the major cruise ship companies are based in Miami, Florida.

Our maritime firm is based here in Miami, Florida, and we continue to be safety advocates for people who are injured or killed at sea.

I continue to receive phone calls on regular basis from attorneys throughout the United States asking whether the one year statute of limitations to file a lawsuit for a cruise ship passenger who has been injured onboard a cruise ship (which include those operated by Carnival Corporation (Carnival Cruise Lines), Celebrity Cruise Lines, Costa Cruise Line, Disney Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), Regent-Seven Seas Cruises, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCL), and Silver Sea Cruises).

This one year time limitation to file a lawsuit for a cruise ship passenger that has been injured onboard a cruise ship is authorized by a Federal statute. The passenger tickets that contain this one year limitation to file a lawsuit has been held enforceable by our Supreme Court of the United States. Frequently, I receive a phone call from an attorney who wants to refer a cruise ship passenger case but has failed to recognize the one year time limitation, and it has been too late to help the cruise ship passenger. Other times I have received a phone call that an attorney has learned the hard way about the one year time limit when a lawsuit that has been filed is met with a motion to dismiss on statute of limitations grounds.

Not only is there a one year time limitation to file a lawsuit by a cruise ship passenger, there are also conditions in the passenger ticket requiring notice to be given to the cruise ship company of the claim, prior to commencement of the lawsuit. Typically, this a six month notice requirement. In addition, the passenger tickets contain a forum selection clause, requiring the passenger to file their lawsuit in venues chosen by the cruise ship company. The Miami based cruise ship companies, Carnival, Celebrity, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean, require the lawsuits to be filed in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Most of the time, the passenger ticket requires the lawsuit to be filed in Federal court.

In the case of Costa, they have two types of passenger tickets for their cruises. One involves cruises that depart from the United States. They require the lawsuits to be filed in Broward County, Florida. For those cruises that do not touch a United States port, and sail in the European countries, the lawsuit must be filed in Genoa, Italy. Passengers who were onboard the Costa Concordia are faced with a passenger ticket that requires a lawsuit to be filed within one year, as well as for the lawsuit to be filed in Genoa, Italy.

In addition to the many other terms and conditions contained in the passenger contract that will affect the rights of the cruise ship passenger in pursuing an action for personal injury or wrongful death against a cruise ship company, there are also terms and conditions with respect to any claims for baggage loss, or contractual disputes that may exist.

If you are contacted by a cruise ship passenger for a potential personal injury or wrongful death case against the cruise line companies, you must immediately review the passenger ticket to learn of all the terms and conditions. If the passenger does not have his ticket, the passenger tickets can be found online on the websites of the individual cruise ship companies. Sometimes it takes a little navigating to find the tickets, but they are on the websites.

Our firm is a Miami based maritime and admiralty cruise ship and boating accident law firm. I've been handling maritime cases for approximately 30 years.

In yet another unfavorable decision for seamen, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has joined other circuits in finding that an arbitration clause in a seaman's employment agreement is binding and enforceable. The case of Potenciano L. Aggarao, Jr. v. MOL Ship Management Company, Ltd., Case No. 10-2211 (D.C. Maryland, March 16, 2012), (addressed a case where the seaman was a citizen of the Philippines and he filed suit for severe injuries he suffered on a ship named the M/V Asian Spirit. The accident happened in the Chesapeake Bay near Baltimore. Multiple claims were alleged, including Jones Act negligence, unseaworthiness, maintenance and cure, breach of contract as well as violation of the Seaman's Wage Act. There were negligence claims brought up under the general maritime law as well as the Jones Act.

The opinion is interesting because it first addresses the basis for the dismissal, which the Court found to be a dismissal for improper venue since the arbitration clause was likened to a forum selection clause. Dismissal pursuant to a forum selection clause is on the grounds of improper venue. Similarly, this Court concluded that the dismissal based on the arbitration agreement was based on improper venue.

The Court discussed the Convention on the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards (the "Convention"). The United States has exceeded to this Convention in 1970, and Congress implemented it by enacting Chapter 2 of Title 9 of the United States Code ("The Convention Act").

The United States also, under Title 9 of the United States Code, has what's called the Federal Arbitration Act (the "FAA"). A Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision, in Rogers v. Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, 547 F.3d 1148 (9th Circ. 2008), described the relationship the Federal Arbitration Act has to the Convention Act:

Federal arbitration law is codified in the three chapters of Title 9
of the United States Code [only two of which are relevant here].
The [FAA] comprises the first chapter. See 9 U.S.C. §§ 1-14.
[The legislation] implementing the treaty . . . commonly called
the Convention Act, comprises the second chapter. See U.S.C
§§ 201-208.

The Supreme Court of the United States has indicated that the goal of the "Convention" is to encourage the recognition and enforcement of commercial arbitration agreements in international contracts, as well as unify standards by which agreements to arbitrate are observed and arbitral awards are enforced in signatory countries.

Continue reading "Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Sends Seaman Packing and Home to Philippines to Arbitrate Jones Act Claims" »

The cruise ship Ruby Princess, operated by Princess Cruises out of California, has been having a hard time keeping away the infamous norovirus from their cruise ship.

The norovirus is suspected as the cause of the recent reported illnesses to many passengers onboard the Ruby Princess, which returned this past Sunday morning to Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The Ruby Princess has had problems with the norovirus recently. A similar situation existed about a week ago when the Ruby Princess returned with 129 sick passengers, reportedly due to the norovirus. There have been three outbreaks of the norovirus on Princess cruise ships this year alone.

Information about the norovirus, and the outbreaks on cruise ships, can be found on the website of the Center for Disease Control.

The cruise ship companies participate in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's special sanitation program. After an outbreak of the norovirus, which is reportedly spread by touching contaminated surfaces or from affected food and water, must be dealt with by strict sanitation measures aboard the cruise ships. Especially after an initial outbreak, future cruises are at risk if the vessel is not appropriately sanitized.

A newspaper article in the Miami Herald reports that passengers were told of a delay for this last cruise on the Ruby Princess because of the need for sanitation of the vessel following the previous outbreak of the norovirus. Some passengers complained they were not warned about this sufficiently in advance and would not have gone on the cruise if they knew about the prior problem with the norovirus.

Although the presence of the norovirus has not been linked specifically to negligence on the part of the cruise ship company, the number of outbreaks of the norovirus we have seen onboard cruise ships does raise the question whether the cruise ship companies are adequately following the sanitation programs designed to avoid outbreaks of the norovirus. It is very difficult to prove any negligence on the part of a cruise ship company when the norovirus does surface and cause illness to the passengers. It is somewhat more plausible to prove negligence if there are repeated outbreaks close in proximity to each other, suggesting that the cruise line company did not appropriately sanitize the vessel before embarking on future cruises. We all know that cruise ship companies are reluctant to cancel any cruises due to the amount of money they would lose if they do so. It is cruising as usual.

At this time, the illnesses with the passengers have not specifically been linked to the norovirus, although this is the same passenger cruise ship that had an outbreak of the norovirus only a week ago. It is also unclear the exact number of people who may have been affected, although a spokesperson for Princess Cruises said the recent episode involved only a small number of the cruise ship passengers.

Our Miami maritime firm handles claims for personal injuries and wrongful deaths involving both crewmembers and passengers.

ABC News reports on its website that the California passenger on a cruise ship, Rick Ehlert, 45-years of age, of Thousand Oaks, California, who I had previously reported about him dropping a stern anchor on the passenger cruise ship the M/S Rymdam, was sentenced to jail for two months. He pled guilty to being drunk onboard the cruise ship when he dropped the anchor during a sailing from Mexico to Florida.

Ehlert also had deployed a life buoy after he dropped the anchor.

The actions of Ehlert could have caused serious damage to the cruise ship's rudder, or punctured it, possibly causing the cruise ship to sink. The cruise ship passenger also has to pay a $7,500.00 fine and attend substance abuse counseling.

In the light of the Costa Concordia's sinking, I am sure Ehlert's reckless actions got the sentencing judge's attention. His explanation as to why he did such a foolish thing: "Many people have asked me why I dropped the anchor. I believe that I was intrigued by the machinery and curious to see if I could operate it. I do remember trying to stop the anchor once it started moving, but it just kept going faster."

The cruise ship involved is operated by Holland American Lines out of Seattle, Washington.

Ehlert's prank was caught on the surveillance cameras aboard the ship and can be viewed through youtube link.

Our firm is a Miami based maritime law firm handling all types of cases involving injuries and death at sea. We handle cruise ship cases as well as all types of boating accidents involving different types of watercraft.

The Miami Herald has reported that Micky Arison has given his first interview regarding the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster that occurred on January 13, 2012. He had been criticized about his lack of visibility following the disaster.

He is quoted in the article: "Obviously, I am very sorry it happened,...when you have 100 ships out there, sometimes unfortunate things happen, but as I said, it was an accident. We as a company do everything we can to encourage the highest of safety standards."

I am sorry Mr. Arison, but I think Congress might disagree with you, as well as all of the people who were aboard the Costa Concordia, when you say this was just an accident.

The cruise ship industry is receiving a lot of scrutiny now by Congress about the so called safety standards and regulations they maintain, and serious questions have arose as to whether they can be characterized as "the highest of safety standards", as stated by Mr. Arison. This was not just something unfortunate that happened, an accident. This was a reckless disregard for the safety and lives of all those passengers that were onboard the Costa Concordia.

Carnival Cruise Lines has been sued by passengers aboard the Costa Concordia, as they are the parent of the Costa company that was operating Costa Concordia. Even though Mr. Arison says that they maintain the highest of safety standards, he has indicated that they are examining all of the standards and regulations following the Costa Concordia incident, including the procedures regarding lifeboat safety drills. It was reported that Costa followed a procedure whereby safety drills with the passengers took place after the cruise ship already sailed. Many of the passengers onboard the Costa Concordia had not participated in any safety drills prior to the disaster. This procedure has been severely criticized, resulting in some cruise ship companies already voluntarily adopting strict policies that all safety drills must take place before the cruise ship sails.

It's interesting that Micky Arison chose to speak publically about the Costa Concordia after Carnival's first quarter's earnings were announced, where it was reported that they suffered a net loss of $139 million. The cruise line companies, including Carnival, are very concerned about their revenues. They have been engaging in a public relations campaign and media blitz in an effort to bring back the positive image of the cruise ship industry that the cruise lines have worked so hard to develop and maintain over the years, even in the face of reports of sexual assaults, rapes and crimes occurring on board cruise ships at a much greater rate than ever known or expected.

There is no doubt the cruise ship industry has taken a hit, deservedly so. Hopefully, the Costa Concordia disaster, as well as other reported incidents which have led to Congressional Hearings, will result in positive changes in the laws.

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

I had previously reported about sexual assaults on cruise ships, including sexual assaults on minors. This has been an ongoing problem on cruise ships for many years, and has called the public's attention to the fact that crimes, including sexual assaults, occur on board cruise ships at a much greater frequency than was known or expected.

Recently, a 29-year-old crewmember, actually an assistant cruise director for Norwegian Cruise Lines working on board the cruise ship Norwegian Star was arrested for having sexual relations with a 16-year-old passenger that was travelling with her parents.

Not only was Senad Djedovic, an assistant cruise director, arrested for having sexual relations with a 16-year-old, the F.B.I. located videos of child pornography on his computer's hard drive. Also alarmingly, they located very graphic e-mails, including sexually-explicit photos, that he exchanged with the 16-year-old passenger. "I miss you big time....you little young girl" is one of the reported messages.

Djedovic had been an employee with Norwegian Cruise Lines for approximately six years, and the incident in question happened aboard the NCL cruise ship the Norwegian Star. He has been arrested for having sexual relations with a minor and possessing inappropriate pictures of the 16-year-old victim as well as pictures of other minors on his computer. He is also facing federal child pornography charges.

Djedovic admitted he knew the age of his victim before he engaged in sexual relations in the stairwell on board the cruise ship during the last night of the cruise.

Continue reading "Another Sexual Predator Identified on a Cruise Ship" »

I reported that on Wednesday, February 29, 2012 the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation held a hearing to look into the Costa Concordia disaster. The hearing was stacked with witnesses who were friends of the cruise ship industry. The hearing was reported as being nothing more than a forum to praise the cruise ship industry, not critique it as it deserves.

Today, March 1, 2012, the Senate Commerce Committee held their hearing entitled "Oversight of the Cruise Ship Industry: Are Current Regulations Sufficient to Protect Passengers and the Environment?"

Chairman Rockefeller started off with a critical line of questions directed right at Christine Duffy from CLIA dealing with why the cruise ship industry can avoid paying U.S. taxes despite making millions of dollars in profits each year while relying on over twenty United States Federal agencies for assistance every time their industry runs into trouble. When asked if she thought this was fair, Ms. Duffy did not have a good answer for the Chairman.

I was a little disappointed to hear that Chairman Rockefeller only briefly discussed the Death on the High Seas Act and other maritime laws that result in passengers not getting adequately compensated for injuries and deaths.

Reports indicate that Senator Amy Klobuchar did take the opportunity to question Ms. Duffy about the Death on the High Seas Act. Although she avoided answering the questions during the hearing, she was requested to submit her answers in writing about what impact DOHSA has on surviving members not sufficiently compensated when their family members are killed aboard cruise ships. These written answers must be submitted for the record.

Ross Klein, who maintains statistics on crimes and disappearances on cruise ships, and often times critiques the cruise ship industry, testified. He did discuss the unfairness of the Death on the High Seas Act, and also discussed the cruise ship companies' use of mandatory arbitration clauses as "job killers for Americans" because they create a disincentive to hire American workers.

I was glad to hear that this particular hearing before the Senate focused more on the true issues that must be looked at - at this time, instead of simply acting as a forum for the cruise ship industry to promote themselves.

There is a link to read the witness testimony and view a webcast of the hearing.

In addition, USA Today News issued an article called Senator Rips Costa Concordia's Parent Company on Taxes.

A very interesting piece of information provided by Senator J. Rockefeller at the hearing when he was questioning the nonpayment of taxes by the cruise ship companies, is found in the USA Today article. Senator Rockefeller was quoted as stating: "The fact is that 1.1% in five years, $11.3 billion in profits is absolutely unthinkable to me," Rockefeller stated. "We're not very happy when they don't pay taxes. To me, it's amazing."

It is amazing that the cruise ship companies enjoy such favorable laws yet continue to lobby Congress on a yearly basis to escape legal liabilities to passengers and crewmembers when their negligence causes injuries or death.

We know that in the wake of the Costa Concordia disaster there's a lot of pressure on Congress to do something, as well as a lot of pressure on the cruise ship industry to show that they are stepping up to the plate to address the problems. The Congressional Hearings are a good platform for both Congress, as well as the cruise ship industry, to at the very least create the appearance that things are being done to address the problems and make the necessary changes. Only time will tell whether this powerful cruise ship industry can be slowed, and whether new safety laws and regulations will in fact be implemented that carry with them the appropriate mechanisms and incentives to make sure they are enforced and followed. There has been a lot of criticism of the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act which was passed after the previous Congressional Hearings addressing cruise ship safety. Some of the criticism is that those particular hearings were prompted by public opinion and the pressure to address problems that existed at the time, but once things calmed down the focus turned away from the cruise ship industry and the legislation that was passed did not have much positive impact. I truly hope this is not the case again. I respect our Congress of course, and truly hope that the cruise ship industry, and their powerful lobbying efforts, will not be sufficient to defeat passage of positive safety laws and legislation, as well as to defeat efforts to do away with the archaic maritime laws that deprive passengers and crewmembers of fair and just compensation when they are injured or killed due to the negligence of a cruise ship operator.

Our firm continues to act as safety advocates for both passengers and crewmembers harmed at sea.

A very interesting article was found in The Telegraph entitled Costa Concordia cruise ship 'was hotbed of sexual harassment'. The article goes on to talk about allegations that the Costa Concordia and other cruise ships that were owned by Costa were hotbeds of sexual harassment, and also for drinking and drug abuse. The statements were made by former crewmembers. The article states that ex-female crewmembers told Italian prosecutors that they saw officers snorting cocaine, drinking to the point of intoxication, as well as harassing female staff. One of the crewmembers was quoted as saying that Captain Francesco Schettino, the commander of the Costa Concordia vessel, "used women as goods to be exchanged".

These allegations are reported to be contained in over 5,000 pages of evidence that have been gathered by the prosecutors in Italy during their investigation into the January 13th Costa Concordia disaster.

One of the crewmembers, who was a nurse aboard a Costa cruise ship who worked with Captain Schettino, said she had to resign because she saw "corruption, drugs and prostitution".

This same crewmember stated she had worked on three different Costa cruise ships, "each one worse than the other".

The other crewmember who was quoted worked on the Costa Concordia in 2010 and said that very often the officers and other crew were drunk. She was quoted as saying that the question was asked "If there's an emergency, who's going to save the ship?" She also claimed that she was "molested" by a crewmember who was on drugs.

These startling allegations, along with the confirmed death toll of 25 from the Costa Concordia disaster, is raising serious questions and concerns about the safety of cruises, and showing the need for stricter laws and regulations of the cruise ship industry. This article, and information comes on the heels of Congressional Hearings looking into the Costa Concordia disaster and what lessons can be learned from it.

I've been handling maritime cases for over 30 years, and I've seen an increasing number of cases involving sexual assaults, and crimes, as well as drug use and excessive consumption of alcohol onboard cruise ships. As the size of the industry has grown to include the many mega cruise ships we hear about, these issues become very serious concerns for the safety of passengers onboard cruise ships. Hopefully the Costa Concordia disaster will bring some good out of it, by prompting these Congressional Hearings focusing on the cruise ship industry. Of course, these hearings must result in the passage of increased regulations and safety laws.

My firm continues to represent passengers and crewmembers who suffer harm at sea, including helping family members who have lost loved ones from an incident occurring onboard a cruise ship. We are currently helping passengers and crewmembers who were onboard the Costa Concordia.