Cruise Ship Law

When Mark Jacobs boarded a ship to enjoy a relaxing cruise around Scandinavia this month with his wife, his children and his parents, the last thing he expected was to be escorted off the liner by uniformed officers from the Oslo Police Department.

Jacobs says his only offense was downloading information about an art auction business run onboard the ship that has been the subject of numerous lawsuits alleging unfair business practices, and then passing around a one-page fact sheet about the company to fellow passengers.

Just hours after sharing information on Park West Gallery and its history of litigation, Jacobs said, he heard his name called over the shipboard intercom system. He was notified he was being put off the ship the next day, July 26, in Norway, and port security officers from the Oslo Police Department were on hand to ensure that he left.

"My son's playing pingpong, and the police come to take me off the ship," Jacobs said yesterday in his Cortlandt home. "And all I did was distribute information."

Jacobs said he had to spend several hundred dollars to book a hotel room in Oslo and then buy a ticket back to London to reunite with his family and fly home. He lost the last two nights of his 12-day cruise, and now the former Green Party congressional candidate, activist and director of the Longview School in Cortlandt said he's ready to make some waves of his own.

"It left me feeling outraged," said Jacobs, 41. "People are being duped, and my rights aren't protected when I'm on a cruise ship."

Jacobs said his curiosity was aroused when he heard about an auction involving artworks and prints associated with Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso and Marc Chagall, among others.

"It sounded like a small art museum, on this cruise ship," he said.

After some research on his laptop, Jacobs said, he came across media and legal reports about Park West. A number of customers have sued the company, claiming the works it sells are significantly overpriced, and in some cases, "little better than a poster," according to one recent lawsuit. The auction company denies any wrongdoing.

A class-action lawsuit against Park West and Royal Caribbean filed in Michigan earlier this month says "the artwork sold at the shipboard auctions is low-value or worthless, often mechanical reproductions ... and is sold at inflated prices." The lawsuit claims that Royal Caribbean gains a roughly 20 percent portion of the sales generated onboard during the auctions. The events are held in international waters, the lawsuit says, to put the auction business beyond the legal reach of U.S. or European consumer protection laws.

Jacobs said he passed around the fact-sheet he compiled to other passengers settling in for an auction where free Champagne was being served. "I was worried for my fellow passengers ... I felt like I had to say something," Jacobs said. He is now considering legal action.

Jacobs' wife, Elena Pousada, took a picture of her husband being escorted off the ship, one that probably won't make it into the family scrapbook. "They destroyed my vacation," Pousada said. "Having lost him for two days, it was certainly less than pleasant."

Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez, sent this statement yesterday: "Various guests reported to the ship's staff that Mark Jacobs was disrupting the onboard art auction by distributing a flyer to guests. The ship's Hotel Director and Staff Captain met with Mr. Jacobs and explained that his behavior was inappropriate and in violation of the guest conduct policy. In addition, they explained that failure to act in accordance with the policy could result in removal from the ship at the next port of call. Mr. Jacobs continued to be uncooperative and difficult, which resulted in a decision to disembark him the following day in Oslo, Norway, the next port of call."

A lawyer for Park West, Robert Goldman, said the company operates in a responsible manner and called the civil lawsuits "unfounded."

"Park West has hundreds of clients who were satisfied by what they've purchased over the years," Goldman said. With the recession, he said, "it's not surprising some people decide they want to reverse their purchases."

He said the company has been "viciously attacked on the Internet" and drawn into continued litigation "in hopes of a payday down the road."

Theresa Franks, a critic of Park West and the cruise lines that do business with it, said she found the recent case involving Jacobs "shocking."

Franks, an art collector who runs a business certifying and registering collectibles that is also being sued by Park West, said, "They should be telling passengers that there's a cloud over the artwork. People have a right to know."

Martinez wouldn't comment on the lawsuits but said, "Royal Caribbean denies any allegation or suggestion that it has done anything wrong. We take very seriously the issues that have recently been raised regarding some of Park West's business practices."

Posted by Lipcon Law Firm at 10:30 AM | Permalink

When Mark Jacobs boarded a ship to enjoy a relaxing cruise around Scandinavia this month with his wife, his children and his parents, the last thing he expected was to be escorted off the liner by uniformed officers from the Oslo Police Department.

Jacobs says his only offense was downloading information about an art auction business run onboard the ship that has been the subject of numerous lawsuits alleging unfair business practices, and then passing around a one-page fact sheet about the company to fellow passengers.

Just hours after sharing information on Park West Gallery and its history of litigation, Jacobs said, he heard his name called over the shipboard intercom system. He was notified he was being put off the ship the next day, July 26, in Norway, and port security officers from the Oslo Police Department were on hand to ensure that he left.

"My son's playing pingpong, and the police come to take me off the ship," Jacobs said yesterday in his Cortlandt home. "And all I did was distribute information."

Jacobs said he had to spend several hundred dollars to book a hotel room in Oslo and then buy a ticket back to London to reunite with his family and fly home. He lost the last two nights of his 12-day cruise, and now the former Green Party congressional candidate, activist and director of the Longview School in Cortlandt said he's ready to make some waves of his own.

"It left me feeling outraged," said Jacobs, 41. "People are being duped, and my rights aren't protected when I'm on a cruise ship."

Jacobs said his curiosity was aroused when he heard about an auction involving artworks and prints associated with Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso and Marc Chagall, among others.

"It sounded like a small art museum, on this cruise ship," he said.

After some research on his laptop, Jacobs said, he came across media and legal reports about Park West. A number of customers have sued the company, claiming the works it sells are significantly overpriced, and in some cases, "little better than a poster," according to one recent lawsuit. The auction company denies any wrongdoing.

A class-action lawsuit against Park West and Royal Caribbean filed in Michigan earlier this month says "the artwork sold at the shipboard auctions is low-value or worthless, often mechanical reproductions ... and is sold at inflated prices." The lawsuit claims that Royal Caribbean gains a roughly 20 percent portion of the sales generated onboard during the auctions. The events are held in international waters, the lawsuit says, to put the auction business beyond the legal reach of U.S. or European consumer protection laws.

Jacobs said he passed around the fact-sheet he compiled to other passengers settling in for an auction where free Champagne was being served. "I was worried for my fellow passengers ... I felt like I had to say something," Jacobs said. He is now considering legal action.

Jacobs' wife, Elena Pousada, took a picture of her husband being escorted off the ship, one that probably won't make it into the family scrapbook. "They destroyed my vacation," Pousada said. "Having lost him for two days, it was certainly less than pleasant."

Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez, sent this statement yesterday: "Various guests reported to the ship's staff that Mark Jacobs was disrupting the onboard art auction by distributing a flyer to guests. The ship's Hotel Director and Staff Captain met with Mr. Jacobs and explained that his behavior was inappropriate and in violation of the guest conduct policy. In addition, they explained that failure to act in accordance with the policy could result in removal from the ship at the next port of call. Mr. Jacobs continued to be uncooperative and difficult, which resulted in a decision to disembark him the following day in Oslo, Norway, the next port of call."

A lawyer for Park West, Robert Goldman, said the company operates in a responsible manner and called the civil lawsuits "unfounded."

"Park West has hundreds of clients who were satisfied by what they've purchased over the years," Goldman said. With the recession, he said, "it's not surprising some people decide they want to reverse their purchases."

He said the company has been "viciously attacked on the Internet" and drawn into continued litigation "in hopes of a payday down the road."

Theresa Franks, a critic of Park West and the cruise lines that do business with it, said she found the recent case involving Jacobs "shocking."

Franks, an art collector who runs a business certifying and registering collectibles that is also being sued by Park West, said, "They should be telling passengers that there's a cloud over the artwork. People have a right to know."

Martinez wouldn't comment on the lawsuits but said, "Royal Caribbean denies any allegation or suggestion that it has done anything wrong. We take very seriously the issues that have recently been raised regarding some of Park West's business practices."

Posted by Lipcon Law Firm at 10:30 AM | Permalink

SAN DIEGO — Robert McGill, the man accused of killing his wife on a Mexican cruise, made a dramatic first court appearance in San Diego, arguing with public defenders as family members sobbed loudly in the gallery.

The 55-year-old man asked a judge Friday if he could make a statement, then had a hushed but emotional conversation with two federal defenders.

During the talk, McGill gestured to his family and could be heard saying: "I think they are suffering and need to hear from me."

McGill also said: "That's putting more financial burden on top of the pain and horror that I've caused this family."

It wasn't immediately clear what McGill was referring to.

U.S. District Magistrate William McCurie Jr. entered a plea of not guilty on McGill's behalf and set a detention hearing for July 23.

Robert McGill and his wife seemed to be living a romance story: ex-high school sweethearts who found each other decades later and renewed their love.

So friends and neighbors were shocked to learn the veteran Los Angeles County school teacher is accused of killing his wife on his 55th birthday during a domestic dispute on a Mexican cruise. Shirley McGill had turned 55 just six days before she died.

"It doesn't make any sense. You are talking about a situation that just doesn't have any connection to the people I know as neighbors," said Michael Hougardy, who lives on the McGills' cul-de-sac in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles.

"Bob and Shirley never said anything negative about each other," he told The Associated Press on Friday. "I saw Bob a couple days before they left. He was excited. He was looking forward to it."

McGill was arrested for investigation of murder and jailed Thursday after the Carnival Elation returned to San Diego.

Debra Hartman, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in San Diego, declined Friday to say whether he had been charged but said she would provide information later in the day. McGill could make a first court appearance as early as Friday afternoon, she said.

An autopsy was also tentatively set for Friday, according to the San Diego County medical examiner's office.

The first hint of trouble came on Tuesday, three days into the five-night cruise to Cabo San Lucas, when a passenger contacted the ship's security to express concerns that a woman might be dead, said Keith Slotter, a special agent in charge of the FBI's San Diego bureau.

Crew members found the body of Shirley McGill in the cabin and later detained her husband and placed him in the brig as the ship sailed home.

It wasn't immediately known if McGill had an attorney.

McGill was a divorced father of two sons when he reconnected with Shirley through the Internet, colleagues said.

Court records show McGill was divorced from his first wife in 1998 after a 2½-year proceeding and then filed for bankruptcy in 2001. Two years later, he married Shirley McGill in Las Vegas.

In bankruptcy papers, McGill listed assets of $50,000 to $100,000 and debts of $100,000 to $500,000. The attorney who handled the case did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

"Bob and Shirley loved each other very much. Their marriage was the most important thing in his life," Paul White, a teacher at the school where McGill taught, told the AP. "They were childhood sweethearts."

White said he worked with McGill for nearly 11 years and knew him to be calm and pleasant.

"He's a great friend, he's great with kids, he's a great dad, he's a great husband," White said.

McGill, whose gray hair falls below his shoulders, played guitar, liked to ride horses and hike and "was always out every morning walking the dogs," Hougardy said.

McGill has worked for the Los Angeles County Office of Education since 1979 but would likely be placed on administrative leave if his case is prosecuted, spokeswoman Margo Minecki said.

Colleagues said McGill spent years teaching at-risk teens, became burned out by the job a decade ago but was revitalized when he came to work at the West Valley Leadership Academy in Canoga Park, a county-run alternative high school that White founded to help at-risk youth. The county closed it in June because of dwindling attendance.

McGill had switched teaching jobs a few years ago and was tutoring pregnant teenagers in an independent-study program.

Mo Freedman, who worked with McGill at the county education agency for 20 years, called him "a free thinker" who enjoyed his work.

"We all get a little cynical at one time," Freedman said. "I thought Bob was like that years ago, and then he reacquainted with his high school sweetheart, Shirley. He was reinvigorated. And Paul (White) kind of pulled him out of the doldrums, working with the kids."

Shirley McGill retired last week from the state Department of Motor Vehicles, and her husband had planned to retire soon as well, acquaintances said.

Hougardy said Shirley McGill planned to move to Oregon, where her family and her children from a previous marriage lived. McGill was going to join her when he retired.

Her former colleagues at the Canoga Park DMV office were shocked when they heard about Shirley McGill's death on television.

"They took it very hard," George Wong, the office's administrative manager, told the Daily News. "She was a very loving person and a kind person."

Associated Press writers Sue Manning, Solvej Schou and Anthony McCartney in Los Angeles and Ken Ritter in Las Vegas contributed to this report.

Posted by Lipcon Law Firm at 10:44 AM | Permalink

Two brothers died early Saturday morning when a 23-foot Bayliner slammed into their 21-foot Hewes near Dinner Key, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Charles W. Clayton, 32, and Wade A. Clayton, 33, were killed in the crash, FWC spokeswoman Gabriella Ferraro said.

The crash happened just before midnight Friday about two miles south of Dinner Key and about a mile out from shore.

Wade Clayton was a professional fisherman and his brother was also an experienced angler, said their mother, Joyce Clayton.

"It was a tragic accident and I love and miss them dearly," said Joyce Clayton, standing in the driveway of her Kendall home, her eyes red with tears. "I just can't beleive they're gone."

Ferraro said the impact tossed the two brothers and 31-year-old passenger Brandon P. Foster from the Hewes.

The collision also tossed overboard one of the passengers on the Bayliner, according to Fire Rescue spokesperson Lt. Ignatius Carroll.

After the impact, the 23-foot boat came around, the passenger tossed off the boat was able to swim back and that's when they started hearing cries for help, Carroll said. They pulled one survivor out but he was not breathing.

"They made a desperate attempt to revive him but were unsuccessful," Carroll said.

Alan Almond, the Clayton brothers' step-father, said Charles Clayton, of Palmetto Bay, was found at the crash site and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The two passengers aboard the Bayliner called rescuers and made several attempts to fire off flares but their flare gun wasn't working, said Carroll. The GPS coordinates they gave rescuers were innaccurate, he said.

Wade Clayton, of Plantation Key, was found over an hour later by a Miami-Dade fire boat and was pronounced dead, Almond and Carroll said.

Foster was taken to Mercy Hospital with unknown injuries, Ferraro said.

Burt Korpela, owner of Atlantis Marine Towing & Salvage, said he heard the call over the radio and went to the site of the crash.

Debris was scattered everywhere and marine patrol and divers were searching for bodies when Korpela arrived.

"The boat was all ripped apart. The steering station was ripped right out and there was a big crunch on the top deck," said Korpela, 38. "I saw the bodies. This was kind of a gory sight."

Almond said the two brothers were experienced fishermen who had travelled to Costa Rica, Mexico, and the Caribbean on fishing trips. They had gone out fishing for bait they planned to use on a future fishing trip.

The men on the 23-foot Bayliner had gone out to help friends having boat problems when the collision occured, Ignatius said. "The odds were 50 million to 1," said Almond. "They were one of the only boats out there."

The 46-year-old driver of the Bayliner, Paudides Machado, had not been charged in the crash as of 11 a.m. Saturday.

"At this point we don't know if charges will be filed," Ferraro said. "We don't know if anyone was speeding or if alcohol was involved."

Wade Clayton is survived by his 5-year-old son, Caiden, who was celebrating his birthday in New York City on the same day his father died.

Both brothers are survived by their father Charles Clayton Sr., mother Joyce, and brothers Chad and Colby.

Posted by Lipcon Law Firm at 10:30 AM | Permalink

JUNEAU, Alaska - The U.S. Coast Guard came to the aid of an infant injured in a fall on a cruise ship.

The cruise ship Celebrity Infinity was 80 miles west of Juneau when the call came in.

The Coast Guard says a helicopter launched from Air Station Sitka hoisted the infant and a parent from the ship and took them to Bartlett Regional Hospital on Tuesday. The child's condition was described as stable.

Posted by Lipcon Law Firm at 10:38 AM | Permalink

The cruise line industry endorsed proposed federal rules requiring peepholes on cabin doors, though many ships already have them.

The cruise ship industry has agreed to new safety rules making it easier to find out who's knocking at a cabin door.

A federal bill mandating peepholes and safety latches for passenger cabins won the backing of the Cruise Lines International Association this week, a rare concession from an industry known to oppose new regulations from Washington.

"It is an historic development," said Kendall Carver, president of International Cruise Victims, a leading critic of ocean liner safety records.

While peepholes and latches are commonplace in hotels, the devices aren't standard on cruise ships. Closing that gap became a top priority of cruise line critics after a series of well-publicized disappearances and crimes on ocean liners in recent years.

Industry backers characterized the controversy as an over-reaction, saying the isolated environs of a ship are far safer than hotels and other vacation options.

But Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., pushed for tougher safety rules for ships that typically operate out of U.S. ports but are registered in other countries.

In a letter to Kerry, Terry Dale, president of the Fort Lauderdale-based cruise lines association, also endorsed a provision in the bill requiring operators to quickly report serious crimes that occur on ships, train medical personnel on sexual-assault examinations and keep a log of minor incidents such as theft.

But Dale hinged his support on Kerry dropping another provision of his bill that would let families of victims of cruise ship deaths sue operators for pain and suffering. Current admirality law only allows them to sue for lost wages and funeral expenses for an incident on the high seas. Kerry's office could not say late Tuesday afternoon whether the senator would accept the compromise.

The Kerry-sponsored Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2009 would bring changes to the cabins of many passengers. A draft of the bill requires peepholes for all existing ships and also safety latches for vessels built after the law takes effect.

Carnival Corp., the world's largest cruise operator, already has peepholes on its doors, as does Royal Caribbean, its biggest rival, media representatives said Tuesday.

Royal Caribbean said its doors do not have latches, while a Carnival spokeswoman could not give a definitive answer Tuesday afternoon. Norwegian Cruise Line has door latches but not peepholes, a spokeswoman said.

Stewart Chiron, who runs the website cruiseguy.com, dismissed the proposed law, saying it doesn't address the causes of most shipboard incidents: drunken passengers falling off ships and socializing with crew members away from supervised areas of the ships.

"None of these incidents were a result of not having these safety measures," he said.

Posted by Lipcon Law Firm at 10:35 AM | Permalink

The legislation would make shipboard crime reporting mandatory and require installation of security latches and peepholes on cabin doors, among other measures.

The nation's cruise ship industry, in a turnaround from its long-standing position that no additional government oversight is needed, endorsed proposed federal safety legislation Monday, paving the way for increased security measures on cruise ships.

Cruise Lines International Assn., the industry's chief lobbying and advocacy organization representing 24 member cruise lines, sent a letter of support to Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), one of the bill's sponsors. Association President Terry Dale said in the letter that he would work to ensure the passage of the comprehensive security bill.

If it passes, the bill would make shipboard crime reporting mandatory and require installation of security latches and peepholes on cabin doors. Ship physicians would also have to be trained in sexual assault examinations.

Ken Carver, president and founder of International Cruise Victims, called the shift "a historic moment."

"I think they've really taken a lot of heat, and I'm glad to see them joining forces," Carver said, adding that he believes with the cruise industry's backing the bill will pass.

The $38-billion-a-year industry had maintained that cruises were one of the safest forms of vacationing and that its own self-regulation was adequate. But in recent years, after several high-profile reports of missing persons and sexual assaults, cruise lines had increasingly come under scrutiny.

If the bill passes, it would be a significant victory for safety advocates who have long alleged that the industry skirts regulation by registering its vessels in foreign countries to avoid U.S. labor laws and income tax.

The industry requested one major concession: deletion of an amendment to the Death on the High Seas Act that would have allowed surviving relatives to recover damages for emotional suffering and bereavement, as well as any pain and suffering the victim may have experienced before death.

Under the existing law, survivors of people who die at sea can recover only lost wages or burial expenses.

If a retired person died, for example, family members would get little if any money, Miami maritime attorney James Walker said.

The legislation would also clarify the long-debated issue of crime reporting. The bill would establish a reporting structure based on the current voluntary reporting guidelines.

Each ship would be required to maintain a logbook to record all deaths, missing persons, alleged crimes, and complaints of theft, sexual harassment and assault. That data would also be posted on a website maintained by the Coast Guard.

Posted by Lipcon Law Firm at 11:46 AM | Permalink

(4:40 PM ET) -- Several news outlets in the United Kingdom are reporting a virulent "vomiting bug" believed to be norovirus has killed one passenger and infected dozens of others on a cruise ship sailing around the British Isles.

The BBC reports more than 150 of about 800 passengers aboard Transocean Tours' Marco Polo have taken ill with norovirus-like symptoms -- an unusually high percentage -- and one passenger has died.

The BBC says the cruise ship currently is berthed at Invergordon in Scotland, and health authorities are conducting tests to confirm the nature of the illness.

Scotland's STV News, also reporting the death, says the man who died was on vacation with his wife. The news outlet says the ship, scheduled to sail to Orkney and Stornoway in the United Kingdom, has remained in Invergordon as medical personnel attend to ill passengers.

Outbreaks of norovirus and other gastrointestinal illness have been on the decline on cruise ships in recent years. The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta recorded just 15 outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness on cruise ships in 2008, down from 21 in 2007 and 34 in 2006.

So far in 2009 the CDC has recorded 10 outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness on ships.

Sometimes called the "stomach flu," though it has no relation to influenza, norovirus is the most common cause of stomach illness in the United States, accounting for around half of all cases, according to the CDC. Marked by often severe nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, the illness breaks out regularly in schools, nursing homes, hospitals and other places people congregate. While the CDC says people suffering from norovirus may feel very sick and vomit repeatedly, most get better in just one to two days and deaths are relatively rare.

UPDATE: 5:25 PM ET: London's Telegraph is now also reporting a passenger death from a vomiting illness on the Marco Polo. The news outlet says the ship canceled all shore excursions today due to the outbreak but allowed passengers to disembark to walk around Invergordon, upsetting local officials.

"These people have been in shops and cafes, possibly infecting locals," the Telegraph quotes a town councilor as saying. "Why were they allowed to go around when it was known there was an outbreak?"

UPDATE, 6:05 PM ET: The BBC, in an update to its earlier story, is reporting that the Marco Polo passenger who died today from the news outlet says was a norovirus-like illness was elderly and had serious underlying health conditions, according to health officials.

The BBC also is reporting that two ill passengers from the ship have been admitted to a local hospital in Invergordon, and the ship has been detained in Invergordon "for the time being."

UPDATE, 9:35 PM ET: Several media outlets in the United Kingdom are reporting that Transocean Tours is saying the death of a Marco Polo passenger today was unrelated to the widespread outbreak of a norovirus-like illness on the ship. Scotland's The Herald says a company spokesman has told it the death was the result of a heart attack. The passenger who died was 74 years old and suffered from chronic heart and breathing problems, a company spokesman tells the news outlet.

Posted by Lipcon Law Firm at 11:35 AM | Permalink

(7:30 AM) -- More than two dozen passengers from Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas were taken to the hospital Wednesday after the amphibious tour bus in which they were traveling crashed in St. Thomas.

Royal Caribbean says in a statement the passengers were on a "Pirate Duck Adventure" tour organized by the line at the time of the accident. The tour bus, which has a boat-like hull for traveling in water and wheels to move on land, veered off the road at a low rate of speed, the statement says.

Royal Caribbean says 49 passengers were on the tour bus at the time of accident, and 29 were taken to the hospital. Of those, nine sustained non-life threatening injuries, and a spokeswoman tells USA TODAY all but one were able to return to the ship before it set sail late Wednesday.

Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez says the Freedom's captain held the ship's departure last night so the injured passengers could make it back on board.

“Our thoughts are with our guests that were involved in this unfortunate accident,” Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein says in the statement. “The safety and well-being of our guests is our highest priority, and we will continue to do our very best to assist them.”

The passengers were traveling on The Duckaneer, a popular tour option for cruisers visiting St. Thomas that is hard to miss when it motors down the roads of St. Thomas' port, Charlotte Amalie.

The Freedom of the Seas is on a seven-night cruise of the Eastern Caribbean out of Port Canaveral, Florida that also includes stops in CocoCay, Bahamas; and Philipsburg, St. Maarten.

Posted by Lipcon Law Firm at 11:22 AM | Permalink