Cruise Ship Law

The Bahama Journal
By Kendea Jones

After almost five years of pleading for government assistance, victims of the 2003 Sea Hauler/United Star are set to receive a $1 million payout from the government.

Minister of Labour and Maritime Affairs Dion Foulkes made the announcement in a press release on Friday.

Minister Foulkes said a comprehensive multi-agency investigation was conducted and as a result of the committee's findings, the government agreed to make an ex gratia payment since there was no finding of any wrong doing by the agency of the government.

He added that the Attorney General office is determining the specific amount to be offered to each victim.

Minister Foulkes said the government is also determining the specific amounts to be offered to each victim.

"It is a process that will be finalized within one week," he said.

The news comes as a pleasant surprise for many of the victims of the tragedy.

One of those people was Sophia Antonio, who said the money is greatly appreciated.

"Right now I am very excited that the government has finally come to terms with honoring the Sea Hauler victims in this manner," she said. "This matter has gone on for four years and is supposed to be dealt with a long time ago and I will put that in the past and just concentrate on now."

"A lot of the victims are losing their homes and can't provide for their families and we have been suffering since this accident happened," Ms. Antonio added. "Before this accident we were well people working and taking care of ourselves and our families. And since this tragedy, we have been left to pick up the pieces of our shattered lives. I'm glad that they finally decided to do something for us because we really needed it."

Paulette Dean had the same sentiments. She said since the incident she has been under a torrent of medical bills.

"I was sitting in a great deal of financial tribulations," she said. "Just to hear this news that the government has decided to give us this money is a great big deal for me because it helps me to deal with my financial problems and my medical bills."

Mrs. Dean, who sustained a broken hip, broken spine and a pelvis bone in the incident said she her medical bills mounted to at least $7,000.

"I had to be kept in the hospital for a while and I got to the point where in bad weather I would not be able to walk," she said.

Mrs. Dean said while she feels that $1 million will not be able to last between all 25 of the victims, she is happy for what she can get.

"In these times it will be hard to live on but I greatly appreciate it."

Meantime, spokesperson for the victims Lincoln Bain said the million- dollar payment was "welcomed and extremely-needed."

"I think that the amount offered is not only reasonable, it is fair as an ex-gratia payment," he said. "We feel that Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham as proven to be a man of his word and he has fulfilled what he promised the sea hauler victims that is to help them and we are extremely grateful."

Mr. Bain said while the victims are appreciative of the payout, it is unclear whether they will still proceed with suing the owner of the two boats.

"There is no decision made on that and honestly the government has not contacted us as yet to say anything to us," he said. "So the sea hauler victims will meet with their lawyers and determine where do they go from there."

The Sea Hauler/United Star tragedy occurred in August 2003. The incident claimed the lives of four persons and injured 25 others.

Sisters Brenda Smith-Ellis, 40, and Brennell Smith-Leslie, 29, were crushed to death by a fallen crane. Also killed were 38-year-old Livingstone Seymour and 14-year-old Lynden Riley.

A wreck commission convened in 2004 to look into the collision and found both the government and the boat captains liable in the matter.

It was also determined that the collision occurred partly because of blunders by the Port Department, and Bahamas Maritime Authority, which has the overall responsibility for establishing a system to ensure safety at sea.

A boiler explosion that killed eight crew members on what was once the world's largest passenger ship was likely caused by Norwegian Cruise Line's improper operation, maintenance and inspection of the steam chamber, federal investigators said.

Part of the boiler on the SS Norway had "extensive fatigue cracking" and deteriorated materials that weakened the metal and caused it to rupture under the intense steam pressure in May 2003, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a report quietly adopted in October.

The line's only steam-powered ship was docked in Miami when the boiler exploded and spewed steam, smoke and debris through engineering spaces, burning eight crew members seriously enough to kill them. Seventeen workers were injured, but none of the 2,135 passengers was hurt.

Evidence "indicates that NCL shipboard engineers were aware of the cracking condition but did not take appropriate action to fix the problem," the report said.

The investigation also found evidence that the cruise line heated and cooled the boiler too quickly, which stresses the metal by expanding it and contracting it under great pressure.

The Miami-based cruise line, owned by Malaysia's Star Cruises and private equity firm Apollo Management LP, said it has improved safety procedures that are audited by the U.S. Coast Guard and took responsibility for the accident.

"None of the management or contractors who were involved in the operation, maintenance or inspection of the Norway's boilers are employed by NCL," line CEO and President Colin Veitch said in a statement.

The boiler cracks were first found in the 1970s, when the ship was owned by another company and known as the SS France. Norwegian bought the ship in 1979, detected more cracks over the years and patched them up with "questionable weld repair procedures," the NTSB report said.

Several injured Filipino crew members and victims' survivors sued the cruise line, but a federal appeals court ruled that they had to pursue their financial claims in the Philippines according to their employment contracts.

The ship sustained about $20 million of damage from the blast and was retired from service. It is now being scrapped off the coast of India, despite opposition from environmentalists who claim it is full of toxic materials.

Also known as the Blue Lady, it was made in France and launched in 1960, at the tail end of the era of trans-Atlantic ocean travel. At 1,035 feet, it was four feet longer than the Queen Elizabeth, and 153 feet longer than the tragic Titanic.

By JOHN PAIN

Malacca Straits - Kidnapping
23 August 2007
Armed pirates boarded a tug and barge underway. All communication equipment was damaged. The pirates stole the ships documents and crew personal belongings. Before leaving they kidnapped the captain and chief engineer. The pirates have demanded a ransom for their release.
All ship masters are requested be remain extra vigilant while passing through these straits.

ALERT
Chittagong anchorage, Bangladesh
Fifty two incidents have been reported since 28.01.2006. Pirates are targeting ships preparing to anchor. Ships are advised to take extra precautions.

Suspicious crafts

16.07.2007: 2000 UTC: Off Somalia
Inspite of rough weather, one suspicious boat tried to approach a ship underway. The boat stopped altered course and moved away when she noticed alert crew on board

Recently reported incidents

15.08.2007: 0130 UTC: Posn 05:51S – 013:24E, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Eight robbers armed with knives boarded a refrigerated cargo ship at anchor. They stole cargo and ship’s stores and escaped. No injuries to crew. Attempt to contact local agents via VHF were futile.

21.07.2007: 0115 LT: Posn 10:12.6N - 107:07.1E, Ho Chi Min City Outer anchorage, Vietnam.
Five robbers armed with knives in a small boat boarded a container ship at anchor. Duty crew raised alarm and crew mustered. Robbers stole ship’s stores and escaped.

18.08.2007: 0135 LT: Tuticorin anchorage, India.
Robbers boarded a container ship at anchor. They stole ship’s stores and escaped in a boat. Duty AB raised alarm and crew mustered. Coast guard informed.

13.08.2007: 0355 LT: Posn 03:55.5N - 098:46.5E, Belawan Outer roads, Indonesia.
Four robbers armed with wooden sticks boarded a chemical tanker at anchor. They broke into the forward locker and tried to steal ship’s stores. Duty crew raised the alarm and sounded ship’s whistle. Crew mustered and activated fire hoses. Robbers jumped overboard and escaped, in a waiting boat, with a life raft.

13.08.2007: 1915 LT: Posn 04:14.3N – 099:04.7E, Malacca Straits.
Ten pirates armed with fire arms boarded a tug towing a barge laden with steel billets. The pirates damaged all communication equipments and stole crew personal belongings and ship’s documents. The master and chief engineer were kidnapped and taken ashore. The tug and barge have anchored at the destination port. The whereabouts of the master and chief engineer still unknown. Pirates have contacted owners to demand a ransom. Negotiations are underway.

13.08.2007: River Mooring No. 3, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
Robbers, in country boats approached, a chemical tanker at anchor. The boats were noticed to go under the hull near the stern. The robbers were cutting off and stealing the zinc anodes. The incident was reported to the coast guard who sent a patrol boat. On seeing the patrol boats, the robbers left their boats and escaped. The coast guard seized the boat and boarded the ship for investigations.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch has cited inadequate supervision and improper manning levels on a cruise liner following a fatal accident.

A 39-year-old Filipino crew member on the Thomson Celebration received fatal injuries last September while trying to manoeuvre a lifeboat tender.

The liner was preparing to leave St Peter Port when the accident happened.

Columbia Shipmanagement has undertaken a full safety review and a safety officer is now on duty at all times.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) report was also critical of the boat's safety management system.

It said there was inadequate shipboard supervision of the tender operation, manning levels were not in accordance with specified levels and the in-house training scheme was inconsistently applied.

TEMECULA -- Cruises are usually memorable experiences in themselves, but when the ship sinks the cruise tends to leave a more lasting impression.

Bob and Diane Munday of Temecula were ready to take in the sights of Greece earlier this month aboard the Sea Diamond cruise ship, which sailed through the Aegean Sea. But the last full day of the four-day cruise was interrupted when the boat hit submerged rocks just off Santorini Island on April 4, causing the ship to take on water and eventually sink.

"You could feel when the boat struck the rocks," said Bob Munday, 79. "I thought for a minute that it was the anchor being dropped, but the boat stopped rather quickly, and we were so close to the rock. And then the ship began to tilt."

Six crew members of the Greek-flagged ship, including the captain and the chief mate, have since been charged with negligence. The captain has told investigators he was caught in a sea current that swept his vessel onto the well-marked and charted rocks just minutes before it was due to dock. Two French tourists are believed to have drowned, though their bodies have yet to be recovered.

The Mundays said one of the most difficult parts of getting off the ship was traversing the stairwells in darkness to get to a deck where rescue boats could reach the passengers.

Diane Munday was separated from her husband for about half an hour as the evacuation call for "women and children first" was given.

"It was like 'Titanic,'" she said. "But we were all pretty cool, though my heart got pounding a bit."

None of the passengers were allowed back to their cabins once the evacuation began, so as the boat sank so did all the passengers' luggage and belongings. But the passports were saved, as each passenger had previously given them to the boat's stewards and were guarded carefully.

The ship had 1,156 passengers and 391 crew members. Only Frenchman Jean-Christophe Allain, 45, and his 16-year-old daughter Maud were unaccounted for. It is thought by investigators the two were trapped in their flooded cabin.

Bob Munday said the passengers were given 200 lira -- roughly $280 -- by cruise officials to purchase clothing and toiletries. But since the accident occurred on the eve of Easter weekend, the stranded tourists found that stores weren't open.

"We went for more than three days without toothpaste and brushes," Bob Munday said. "Once I was able to purchase new slacks, I think the jeans I had been wearing for days were still able to stand on their own."

The passengers formed a camaraderie and locals began to refer to them as the "survivors" and almost always offered them shots of ouzo, a classic Greek spirit.

While some might have viewed the end of the cruise as a signal to end their trip, the Temecula couple who have been married for 54 years traveled on with the remainder of their two-week vacation. They didn't return to California until April 21, when they discovered a new obstacle -- their car keys had sunk with the boat and were now 230 feet beneath the surface of the sea.

Now at home, the pair have had time to reflect on the trip. Bob Munday said the cruise company has offered to compensate him with approximately $1,900 -- and a free cruise on one of the company's other ships.

"I've always wanted to go to Italy, and they have a cruise there," he said. "We'd be willing to go."

"But maybe we'll wait until next year before we travel again," Diane interjected.

While the experience was unexpected, the couple said it was one of the most memorable trips they've ever taken.

"It was really something," Bob Munday said.

-- Staff writer Nicole Sack
-- The Associated Press

If you were aboard the Sea Diamond when it sank, contact our maritime lawyers for a free consultation.

While the captain of the sunken Sea Diamond cruise ship testified before a senior Port Authority official yesterday, authorities and locals on Santorini complained about an alleged lack of planning for the environmental cleanup off the island’s coast, where the vessel foundered earlier this month.

The Sea Diamond’s captain, Yiannis Marinos, testified for over 10 hours about his actions prior to the sinking of the vessel off Santorini on April 5.

Sources told Kathimerini that Marinos responded to dozens of technical questions regarding the course of the vessel, the actions taken by crew members and the condition of the ship. Marinos’s responses to the questions were not made public. More crew members are to testify in due course.

In a related development, the Panhellenic Union of Navigating Officers yesterday sent a memorandum to Merchant Marine Minister Manolis Kefaloyiannis, claiming that the Sea Diamond would not have sunk if there had been a navigating officer aboard.

Meanwhile on Santorini, local authorities and residents complained that no plan had been drafted for removing hundreds of tons of fuel from the sunken ship. Oia’s community president, Giorgos Halaris, told Kathimerini that he had been promised a plan by the ministry but had allegedly received nothing. A group of Oia residents are preparing a petition to demand the immediate siphoning of the vessel’s fuel tanks. Experts yesterday told Kathimerini that fuel was leaking out of the sunken cruise ship slowly but steadily.

"I don't want you to worry, but our cruise ship is filling with water and we're sinking," my father said in a voice that could not mask his concern. Scrawling furiously in hasty print, I took down the information they dictated: "Cruise ship" as in the Sea Diamond, Louis Cruises, in Greece at Santorini, an [cruise ship] accident a half hour ago, the ship tilting at 30 degrees - sinking. "Contact the State Department, the U.S. Embassy," my father instructed. "Tell them the ship is sinking. There are U.S. citizens aboard. This is not a drill."

"James, I love you very much," my mother said, taking the cell phone with audible tears. "I want you to know if I don't make it that you need to take care of your brothers." As my mother finished, from the background noise of terror and confusion, it seemed as if evil itself was emerging. It had come to consume my parents. Then came the most haunting sound of all: silence.

Staring at the disconnected call on my phone monitor, I was captured by a singular concentration and visceral need to do everything I could to save my parents. I must contact the State Department. I cannot take "no" for an answer. I have to talk to a supervisor. I have to find the number to the U.S. Embassy in Greece. I have to talk to the diplomat in charge. I need them to get out there. I need them to do something.

When I had done all that I could do, I was left with the terrifying realization that the conversation I had with my parents could be our last. My parents' words seemed wholly reminiscent of the fleeting cell phone goodbyes on Sept. 11. Their emotion seemed to emulate the last notes of severed love discovered over the broken bodies of airplane crash victims. With the terrible combination of imagination and fear taking hold, I saw my parents as a trite punchline to a tragic news segment ready to be aired. It felt so frightening. It felt so wrong. It felt so unfair.

They say you find religion in moments of great difficulty. In truth, you don't just find religion, you find God. You want to believe. All doubt is washed away by the gripping need for a savior. You fall to your knees and beg him in every prayer you can recite. Beg him to use his almighty power. Beg him to save. Beg him to make things right again.

My prayers were answered. My father was able to find a child-sized life jacket for my mother and to fight off a grown man from stealing it. My parents were able to stay aboard the tilting ship. They were to able to brave the darkened corridors of the lower deck, blindly holding the collars of those in front of them. They were able to make it down a rope ladder, onto a boat, and to safety.

My parents are home now, alive and ironically worried that their jetlagged biological clocks will deprive them of their weekly dose of 24. They count themselves among the fortunate. Cherishing their survival, they resolve to say everything they always meant but never had a complete opportunity to express: how much they loved their sons.

The lesson I have taken is not to avoid cruise ships, but remember that we are all mortal. Each of us will all be helpless to escape the shadow of death when our time has come. Out of our vulnerability, we must not stand paralyzed, afraid to experience the world. Instead, we should remember to live in the happiness of the present.

The miracle of life has so much to offer: the wave of a friend, the embrace of a family member, the kiss of a loved one, the joy of dreams achieved.

Ultimately, we must live with the realization that each day is a gift, the understanding of what is genuinely important, and, above all, the intention to ensure that those we love know that they are loved. This is how we experience life. This is how we find happiness.

By: James Ng
The Heights

ATHENS (AP) — The captain and five officers of a cruise ship that sank off an Aegean Sea island were charged Saturday with negligence, state television reported.
The six officers were charged with causing a shipwreck through negligence, breaching international shipping safety regulations and polluting the environment, state NET said. All were released pending further investigations.

If convicted, the officers face a maximum five-year sentence.

Nearly 1,600 people were retrieved from the sinking ship Thursday in a three-hour rescue operation after the vessel foundered on a volcanic reef, but some passengers complained of an insufficient supply of life vests, little guidance from crewmembers and being forced into a steep climb down rope-ladders to safety.

Divers continued to search for a Frenchman and his daughter who disappeared after their cabin flooded with water when the ship struck rocks.

The 469-foot Sea Diamond struck rocks Thursday in the sea-filled crater formed by a volcano eruption 3,500 years ago off the island of Santorini, sinking about a quarter-mile off the coast, in waters of uneven depth, a few minutes before it was to dock.

The captain, chief mate, second mate, third mate, chief cabin steward, and housekeeper of the Greek-flagged vessel were arrested after the accident, a Merchant Marine Ministry spokeswoman said earlier Saturday.

The ship's operator, Louis Cruise Lines, has insisted the 21-year-old vessel was well maintained.

"The vessel maintained the highest level of safety standards and was equipped with the latest navigation systems," said Giorgos Stathopoulos, spokesman for the operator.

NET earlier reported that investigators believed most of the damage to the ship's hull was done before the captain issued the distress signal, when he was trying to maneuver the ship away from the rocks.

The ministry spokeswoman had said the captain and the five others were appearing before the prosecutor on the nearby island of Naxos.

"The testimony process has started, and the prosecutor is examining all the documents from the initial investigation," she said, speaking on condition of anonymity according to government policy.

Officials were also cleaning up fuel that leaked out of the vessel, which sank 15 hours after foundering.

Thursday's evacuation was the largest Greek rescue operation since the September 2000 Express Samina ferry disaster, which killed 80 people near the holiday island of Paros when it struck rocks in the night and sank.

The country's tourism minister said those responsible for the accident "will be held accountable in the strictest way."

"Greece is a major tourism destination and incidents like this must not be allowed to occur," said Tourism Minister Fanny Palli Petralia said.

Most of the passengers were American, but there also were groups from Canada and Spain.

USA TODAY

Search called off for missing ferry couple
By David Sapsted
Telegraph.co.uk

A major search was called off this afternoon for a couple who disappeared from a cross-Channel ferry in the early hours of this morning.

Coastguards admitted that they did not know if the man and woman, who were travelling on a Brussels-bound coach aboard the P&O ferry Pride of Kent, had fallen overboard or had simply got on the wrong coach when the ship arrived in Calais from Dover at about 2am.

After a search of the ship failed to find any trace of them, French and British coastguards launched a major air and sea search involving four lifeboats, a plane, a rescue tug, two helicopters and a French frigate. Shipping using the Channel was also put on alert for the couple.

Conditions in the area were said to be choppy but visibility was good. However, at lunchtime, French and British authorities agree to call off the search.

“If they had fallen from the ferry and were still on the surface, they would have been found by now,” said a Coastguard spokesman. ”It is possible that the bodies have sunk but it also possible that they got off at Calais after boarding the wrong coach or, even, getting a ride from someone in a car. Inquiries are continuing at both terminals.

"If they have fallen from the height of the ferry, the bodies might well sink and may not surface until days later. We cannot rule anything out from a tragic accident to suicide to a simple misunderstanding.”

The alarm was raised when the Anglia International coach driver realised that the couple, who were travelling without luggage, were missing when he went to disembark at Calais.

Andy Roberts, of Dover Coastguard, said that there reports of the couple being seen on board the ferry shortly after it set sail from Dover.

Both the 5th Circuit and 11th Circuit Court of Appeals have applied the international arbitration convention to seaman's contracts. As a result, seaman are being compelled to arbitrate their claims in foreign countries.

The issue has not been accepted by the U.S. Supreme Court so far. It is anticipated that the Supreme Court will have an opportunity to review this issue in the next several years. Unfortunately, most seaman do not have the financial ability to arbitrate their cases which will result in the ship owners avoiding any responsibility for seaman's injuries.

Joseph A Kinney, a leading security and safety expert, has published a report on cruise ship safety issues for Congressman Shays. The report which is titled "The Slippery Slope of Security in the Cruise Industry" makes several recommendations that cruise lines could adopt to increase safety aboard its ships.

We have posted the entire report for you to download here , or you can continue reading this post for the report in its entirety.

Continue reading "Cruise Ship Safety Recommendations" »

If you are interested in hiring an admiralty attorney, you can review their results by going to Lexis or Westlaw and doing a search for that lawyer's results both in the trial court and the appellate court.

Continue reading "Admiralty Attorneys, How to Pick the Right One" »

CruiseJunkie has compiled a detailed list of 53 persons that have gone overboard from cruise ships since 1995. The list was compiled from media sources as well as private correspondence with Ross Klein, the CruiseJunkie author. Overboards include everything from suicide, to possible murder (investigations ongoing) to people that have just disappeared from the cruise ship so are presumed to have gone overboard.

View the detailed list of persons overboard since 1995 on the Cruise Junkie web site.

ABC News brings cruise passenger disappearances to mainstream news. The word is finally getting out that something needs to be done to make cruise ships safer for passengers and crew. Finally a major news station is also catching on to this story bringing into the mainstream.

At LMA we have created a new blog section dedicated to Cruise Passenger Disappearances, as well as a new practice area on our web site dedicated to this area. We will be adding more info to the web site including a listing of people that have gone overboard. Regarding the cruise passenger disappearances blog, check back or sign up for the feed for regular updates on this evolving hot topic. Hopefully within the next year or two we can be dedicating this section to the reforms that the cruise lines will have been forced to make.

Read ABC's story below:

About a dozen people have gone missing on cruises in the last 2 years

Lawmakers are set this morning to investigate the potential dangers to vacationers cruising the high seas.

Two congressional committees will hold a joint hearing focusing on cruise-ship disappearances and crimes. The hearing comes on the heels of another cruise-ship disappearance in recent months, this one aboard Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Sea, which returned to Florida on Sunday with one less passenger than when it departed.

Source: ABC News