Contributors

Charles R. Lipcon
Charles R. Lipcon is the firm's founding attorney and has been handling injury, cruise line sexual assault and wrongful death claims for over 40 years. Read More »
Jason R. Margulies
Jason R. Margulies is an experienced maritime lawyer and an active trial attorney handling personal injury, cruise line sexual assault and wrongful death claims. Read More »
Ricardo V. Alsina
Ricardo V. Alsina is an active trial attorney, handling personal injury, cruise line sexual assault and wrongful death claims. Read More »
Michael A. Winkleman
Mr. Winkleman is an active trial and appellate attorney handling all personal injury, cruise line sexual assault and wrongful death claims, as well as complex business disputes. Read More »

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NorwayStrange accidents have befallen the cruise industry in the past due to negligence on the part of cruise authorities. However, a recent shore excursion accident begs the question, do sometimes freak accidents happen?

A cruise passenger in her 60s was killed and three others were injured while on a shore excursion in Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. The accident occurred on Monday when 13 passengers onboard the Quark Sea Spirit cruise ship were on a shore excursion sightseeing through the northern portion of the Fjortende Julibukta (the 14th of July Bay) in the Krossfjord, located close to the Northwest Spitsbergen National Park. The passengers were a board an inflatable rubber raft called a Zodiac when the boat was suddenly hit by a wave and everyone onboard was thrown into the icy waters of the Arctic.

The fatal cruise accident does not appear to have been caused by any crew member’s negligence, but there are some details that are just not adding up, leading authorities in Norway to question the incident.

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HandcuffsSeveral cruise ship disappearances have been reported throughout the years, but rarely are these cases solved. There have been cases involving the disappearance of both cruise passengers and crew members, both from onboard the vessel as well as in port. The majority of onboard disappearance victims are presumed to be lost overboard, sometime their bodies have been found by Coast Guard emergency crews, but others have never recovered. Then there are the few exceptional cases in which the victim who went overboard is rescued and survives. However,  the sad truth is that most cruise ship disappearances remain unresolved.

Whether it’s because the victims did not survive and there body was not found or because the disappearance was the result of a crime that was never solved, the families of these disappearance victims rarely achieve closure or receive compensation for their pain and suffering.

However, this appears to not be the case for one victim’s family who may soon have the long-awaited justice they deserve. A California grand jury has formally indicted a Florida man who is suspected of murdering his ex-wife on a cruise ship in 2006 and then throwing her body overboard.

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Dog paddling with life jacketBoat accidents are common during this time of year, when the weather gets warm, skies are clear and kids are off of school. But while there are certain things boaters can do to keep safe during water-related activities, including wearing life jackets, refraining from drinking alcohol, and learning about area boating laws, there isn’t a whole lot that can be taught to boaters when those boaters happen to have four legs and a furry coat.

The latest boat accident victim happens to be an Alaskan dog named Cutie. But luckily, this accident has a happy ending. Cutie, a 30-pound Labrador and terrier mix, survived four days out on the Chena River while trapped under a 17-foot boat she was riding in that had overturned.

Cutie had been riding with Jeremy McDonald, 34, John and Billy Minerva, ages 35 and 25. Cutie’s owner and John Minerva’s girlfriend, Grace Sommer, was not on the boat when the accident occurred. As the men were enjoying themselves, they came upon a raft that had become stuck against a bridge and tried to offer assistance, when their boat turned over.

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Savannah RiverThe cruise industry has a tendency to keep matters hidden from the public, especially when it comes to passenger accidents, injuries and other acts of negligence, in order to avoid taking responsibility for incidents. When news of passenger injuries, disappearances and crimes on the high seas become public, cruise lines can lose their credibility and appeal. This is exactly what happened following the Costa Concordia capsizing accident back in January, 2012 and then again last February when the Carnival Triumph caught fire.

But now, it seems this trend in keeping the public shielded from the inner workings of the cruise industry has now spread to city officials in Savannah, GA, where plans for a new cruise ship terminal are in the works.

Savannah officials are discussing potential sites for a new terminal to be located somewhere along the Savannah River – where exactly has yet to be revealed. All we know as of right now is that a consultant reported on three different potential sites for the new terminal but city authorities have not given the public any information on what the potential locations may be, despite the fact that the report was funded by taxpaying residents.

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In the wake of several cruise ship accidents that have befallen the maritime industry in the past few years, some liners and ports have avoided taking responsibility for the incidents that have occurred on their watch, however, New Zealand and Fiji are not about to let a cruise disaster occur on their watch. The two ports – two of the most frequented in the world – are taking precautions to improve cruise ship safety and prevent accidents from occurring in their respective areas by holding mock accidents and testing port officials and crew members on their response to these incidents.

This weekend New Zealand authorities held a mock cruise ship accident in Otago Harbour to test what would happen if a vessel were to sink in the area and how emergency officials would respond. Crews were tested for their various responses and how they used their available resources during what was being dubbed an “overwhelming” cruise disaster resulting in “mass casualties.”

The mock drill was a success and highlighted the quick thinking strategies of emergency responders and crew members when faced with a maritime disaster. The mock disaster was originally planned for Otago Peninsula at Taiaroa Head, but due to unfavorable weather conditions, the drill was held at Portobello Bay.

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Sold out cruise itineraryIt’s not that hard to believe that the cruise industry would bounce back since the chain of maritime accidents that have befallen it for the past two years, most notably the Costa Concordia capsizing incident; however, it is pretty shocking that passengers would actually want to go back on the same cruise ships that were home to some of the most heinous conditions ever experienced.  Yet, whether it’s the shock factor or a lack of awareness of what’s happened on these vessels that’s to blame, the cruise industry is still going strong.

In what could be one of the strangest and confusing incidents that have come to pass in the industry, our cruise ship lawyers have come to learn that the highly criticized Carnival Triumph is about to set sail once more – and on a sold out itinerary no less!

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Down stockThe other day our cruise ship lawyers reported on how cruise industry stocks are doing severely underpar from their previous and usual highs pre-Costa Concordia crash and Carnival Triumph cruise ship fire. Carnival reported lower projected earnings for the first quarter, but we had yet to hear from Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. on how their revenues will be affected.

Although a recent Harris Poll has shown the nation’s trust in Carnival Cruise has dropped significantly in the months following the Triumph fire debacle that left thousands of people stranded in the ocean amidst unsanitary conditions, but this cruise ship accident also caused other major cruise lines to feel the effects. While not as much as Carnival, the Triumph fire and Carnival’s subsequent seemingly apathetic reaction to passenger plights was enough to lower the opinions of other major cruise lines as well, including Royal and Norwegian.

Now that Royal’s recent fire aboard the Grandeur of the Seas has traveled media outlets across the nation, the line knew it wouldn’t be long before it too would suffer financially. According to the company, the cruise ship fire will cost the line roughly 10 cents per share for the year, leaving the stock at $2.46 per share for the remainder of the year.

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Last night’s Miami Heat Finals game against the San Antonio Spurs should have been exciting for fans cheering the teams on at Shucker’s Bar & Grill, but the fun got cut short after the outdoor deck behind the bar collapsed, sending a hundred patrons into the waters of Biscayne Bay.

According to reports, 24 people were hurt, three of which were critically injured after falling nearly 10 feet. The accident took place just before 10 p.m. in the popular North Bay Village bar after supports collapsed. Investigators determined the structural integrity of the bar was compromised after a beam on the edge of the dock buckled. Although Florida’s building codes are the strictest in the U.S., having hundreds of excited fans jumping up and down ads to the load on the dock, inevitably causing it to collapse.

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Life saver 2There are far too many times when cruise lines are able to get away with committing acts of negligence without suffering any penalties or taking responsibility for their actions. As our cruise ship lawyers have seen time and time again, major lines, most notably Carnival Corp., have swept accidents and crimes under the proverbial rug in order to avoid liability for the incidents and the lost revenue that comes with it.  Carnival has been vastly criticized by the maritime community and attorneys over their seemingly continual and perpetual disregard for passenger and crew member rights and safety, yet hasn’t taken any significant steps to improve onboard conditions for guests and workers.

After the Triumph fire accident in February, which passengers have yet to be decently compensated for, last year’s Costa Concordia capsizing tragedy which resulted in the deaths of 32 victims, and tons of other mechanical mishaps, overboard passenger accidents, cruise ship sexual assaults, and general maritime accident-related injuries, the country is rapidly losing its faith and trust in Carnival – and other lines subsequently – as the “Fun Ship” liner continues to make mistakes and ignore the needs and rights of its client base by either failing to report incidents, diverting responsibility to the governments whose flags its ships fly, and when it comes to crew member rights, imposing foreign arbitration clauses in worker contracts to avoid having to pay a larger amount of damages than the bare minimum.

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As our boating accident lawyers have advised time and time again, the open waters can breed tons of fun activities during the summer months when boating season is in full swing, but if careful attention isn’t placed on safety, tragedy can strike quickly and severely.

Although maritime agencies such as the Coast Guard and individual state authorities urge boaters and personal watercraft users to refrain from committing acts of negligence that may cost innocent people their lives, year after year, there are some people who just don’t seem to get the message.

The number one cause of boating crashes, injuries and deaths is alcohol, followed closely by speeding, reckless operation of a vessel, pilot inexperience, and sheer lack of attention to one’s surroundings. Even in the most remote areas on the most private bodies of water, accidents can – and do – occur.

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