| |
 |
Practice Areas - Boating Accidents
Florida Boating Accident Lawyers
Cruise Ships Accidents
Even though they happen all the time, cruise
ship accidents are not widely publicized, any more than deaths and
injuries from pharmaceutical drugs are.
While everyone realizes that cruise ship accidents
of Titanic magnitude could not go unpublicized, there are other
little known "mishaps" that can and do occur on a regular
basis, some involving injury and death, but most do not.
Accidents aboard cruise ships might include freak
waves crashing through windows, contagious illnesses, such as the
norovirus that is currently plaguing a certain cruise ship line
repeatedly, despite thorough disinfecting of the entire involved
ship.
Viruses are spread easily in closed cabin conditions
where air is recirculated or where the air conditioning or heating
system malfunctions. Legionnaire’s Disease is another hazard.
While the same closed ventilation systems exist on airplanes, the
passengers generally are not in planes for days at a time, as is
the case with cruise ships.
Then there are the cruise ships accidents where the
liners get hung up in ice. Recently, more than 1,000 people were
trapped on four ships stuck in ice in the Baltic Sea off Sweden's
east coast. This type of cruise ship accident seems to be pretty
common.
Another cruise ship was recently quarantined by Brazilian
authorities. Brazil's National Agency for Sanitary Vigilance said
at least 310 people suffered symptoms of some kind of food poisoning.
In still another cruise ship accident, 26-foot waves
crashed into the ship off France, smashing glass windshields and
killing two passengers and injuring fourteen.
At least 70 angry Brits are taking legal action after
they allegedly endured days of broken toilets and leaking ceilings,
while fellow passengers were struck down by diarrhea, fever and
the norovirus. The cruise ship they were on was refused docking
at several ports, and the passengers said that the broken toilets
caused a foul smell to permeate the air conditioning system. Plus,
water was coming down from leaking ceilings in many areas. They
endured these conditions for three days.
Even though broken toilets and leaking ceilings would
not actually be termed a cruise ship accident, they still cause
major inconvenience and sometimes physical injuries, which could
be construed in terms of an "accident," rather than plain
old negligence.
Sixty-four passengers and crew were rescued in lifeboats
in the Atlantic Ocean after the sailing ship Concordia sank on February
20 this year in rough waters about 550 kilometers from Rio de Janeiro.
The crew and passengers, all high school students, spent 16 to 18
hours huddled in life rafts until rescuers found them in the dark.
Sometimes a cruise ship is forced to make a sharp
turn to avoid a small craft that was not picked up on radar, causing
the swimming pools and hot tubs onboard to spill water that then
causes various inconveniences and sometimes injury as well.
Before embarking on any cruise, a wise person would
do well to investigate the accident record of the cruise ship line
being considered, and not just because of the above.
According to www.cruiseinjury.com, "The laws
favor the cruise ship companies by, among other things, requiring
the injured to pass through hoops not found in other areas of the
law. Your cruise ship accident requires you retain a cruise ship
accident lawyer.
Further, the terms enumerated on your cruise ship
ticket most likely will specify that, in the event of injury, you
will be required to seek the services of an attorney in specific
cities, like Seattle, Miami or Los Angeles. Of course, if you live
elsewhere, the expense of doing so would likely be quite prohibitive.
Se Habla Español
Sheldon J. Schlesinger, P.A. represents clients throughout
the state of Florida including the cities of Boca Raton, Boynton
Beach, Carol City, Cooper City, Coral Gables, Coral Springs, Davie,
Deerfield Beach, Delray Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Hialeah, Hollywood,
Jupiter, Lake Worth, Miramar, Miami, Miami Beach, Oakland Park,
Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Palm Springs, Pompano Beach, and
Rivera Beach
Broward County • Miami-Dade County • Palm Beach
County
|
|
