Boating and Cruise Ship Law News
A federal jury in the Southern District of Florida ruled in favor of Royal Caribbean in a Nebraska family’s lawsuit alleging negligence that resulted in a passenger falling overboard to his death. The jury also denied the family’s claim of negligence on behalf of the cruise ship company when they failed to promptly initiate an adequate search and rescue for the overboard passenger.
In addition, family members of the deceased passenger filed for false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress when they were allegedly wrongfully detained in their cabin by a security guard posted at the cabin door. Both of these claims were also rejected by the jury, resulting in a complete victory for the cruise ship company, in this case Royal Caribbean International.
Over-Service of Alcohol Continues to Contribute to Cruise Ship Accidents
We have repeatedly written about the ongoing safety issues present onboard cruise ships due to the over serving of alcohol and inadequate security presence. The cruise ships provide unlimited alcoholic drinks to passengers, which results in excessive consumption of alcohol during cruises. An intoxicated passenger becomes a danger not only to him or herself, but to others on board the ship. Many of the reported sexual assaults and crimes happening on board cruise ships have been related to the over serving of alcohol.
We are pleased to report that this particular incident involving yet another passenger falling overboard from a cruise ship ended with a successful rescue of the passenger. This is not always the case. This particular passenger must’ve been a very good swimmer, and it is quite remarkable to have endured 10 hours in the water before being rescued.
The passenger was initially determined to be missing at approximately 3:50pm when he did not show up for a scheduled doctor’s appointment onboard the ship. Reports state that the cruise ship company reported the passenger missing to the National Park Service officials at approximately 7:30pm after a ship-wide search. At that point a search effort started involving 15 people, three vessels and an airplane, but the passenger was never found.
The nature and extent of the injuries were not known at the time, other than it was reported that there was severe bruising to the facial area, and a Coast Guard officer commented that he did not believe the injuries to be more serious injuries than facial fractures, although that remains to be seen. It is also unclear why the 3-year-old fell from the balcony in her stateroom.
At this time, the reports are that the United States Coast Guard was participating in the search and rescue efforts, as it does involve a United States citizen, and the ship did depart from the United States port. The Bahamian maritime authority will also get involved since the incident did happen in Bahamian waters.
Unfortunately, we have reported about way too many instances of passengers falling overboard during a cruise vacation, specifically on a Carnival cruise ship. Just last month, a 24- year-old male fell off another Carnival ship. According to Ross Klein, almost half of the overboard incidents on cruises have actually occurred on Carnival ships.
At the end of the cruise, the husband and the two children left the vessel and were at Rome’s airport waiting for their flight home to Dublin when the arrest occurred. Authorities were suspicious because the tracking of the passengers showed that the wife had never left the cruise ship and had never been reported missing by her husband. After some questioning of the young children, as well as other reports that surfaced regarding an interaction with a gift shop employee and the couple, Belling was arrested in Rome for the suspected murder of his wife.
With the increasing number of passengers or crew members being reported going overboard from a cruise ship, even two man overboard incidents in one week, the news of such events occurring is not as shocking as it used to be, but obviously still is alarming as ever. On Ross Klein’s website 
The case received national attention, which prompted congressional hearings addressing cruise ship safety and security. The case generated so much interest and focus that it even became the subject of books and movies. His body was never found. Most experts believe he was the victim of foul play, possibly murder. However, an FBI investigation never resulted in the prosecution of anyone for any crime. The parents spent years searching for answers, and unfortunately, many questions remain today, 10 years later.