Both cruise ship crew members and passengers may be eligible for damages in the event of an accident or injury on a vessel. However, the laws governing compensation for crewmembers are different from those for passengers. Passengers on a cruise vessel could suffer fall accidents, or accidents in the swimming pool or other amusement facilities o...

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Hand sanitizers may not be very effective in slowing the spread of a norovirus outbreak. Just plain old soap and water seems to be much more effective in reducing the microbial count on hands that have been contaminated with the bug. Norovirus is popularly known as the “cruise ship bug”, because these outbreaks are very often recorded on cruise...

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The search for missing passengers off the Italian coast amid the wreckage of the Costa Concordia was suspended Wednesday after the ship shifted on the rocks, making the situation too dangerous for rescue workers. Since the luxury liner crashed into rocks and capsized Friday, 11 people have been confirmed dead, and 23 are still missing. Salvage ...

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The Centers for Disease Control cited enough violations during a surprise inspection to give the cruise ship Veendam a failing grade, an uncommon occurrence in the industry. Holland America, which owns the vessel, said the score was an “aberration.” Inspectors noted multiple sanitation violations during the Aug. 19 visit, including a fly on the...

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Recently, the nation, and in fact the world, watched transfixed as news channels carried hour-by-hour coverage of the ordeal of passengers on the Carnival Triumph, as it floated helplessly on the water. A fire had disabled the engines, and the ship was left with thousands of passengers and crewmembers on board, and no power and no water supply. ...

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At least 4 crewmembers on a cruise ship, that sustained damage during a journey to Antarctica, have been reported injured. The cruise vessel, the Silver Explorer operated by Silver Sea Cruises was returning to Argentina at the end of an 18-night trip to Antarctica when it ran into rough seas. There was damage to the ship, but none of the passen...

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A fire on a Norwegian cruise ship led to the deaths of two crewmembers, and evacuation of passengers on board.   The incident occurred last week, on the MS Nordly. The ship was sailing with 260 people on board, including crewmembers.  The fire broke out in the engine room and quickly spread.  Once it became clear that the fire was out of contro...

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The cruise industry has been working hard on developing stronger safety standards in the wake of the deadly Costa Concordia cruise ship accident off the Italian coast. The world’s largest cruise industry group has now announced that it is implementing new rules that will achieve substantial improvements in safety standards. Cruise Lines Interna...

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The U.S. Coast Guard today halted the search for a cruise ship passenger who reportedly fell overboard into the Atlantic, 47 miles east of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Sunday night. Another passenger aboard the Allure of the Seas cruise ship, as well as a surveillance camera, witnessed the 21-year-old woman from Bartlett, Tenn., falling overboard....

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The recent Carnival Triumph disaster, in which a massive cruise ship with thousands of passengers on board lost all power and was left floating in the ocean for more than 24 hours, has made headlines. However, this is not the first time that passengers have been inconvenienced at sea, when a fire broke out on board, cutting off all electricity. ...

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Back in 2004, a paint inspector found black residue inside the drinking water tanks on two cruise ships operated by Norwegian Cruise Line, the Norwegian Dawn and Norwegian Star. He believed that the residue was the result of the paint on the potable water tank leaching a chemical called acrylonitrile into the water. This chemical is believed to ...

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Divers searching the Costa Concordia discovered another body Tuesday, bringing the death toll to 16 in the Italian cruise ship disaster. At least six of the recovered bodies have yet to be identified, but are presumed to include some of the 17 people still unaccounted for. The luxury liner ran aground and capsized Jan. 13 just off the tiny isla...

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The Christmas holiday cruise season will soon get underway, and thousands of vacationers across the country will set off on a dream vacation on the sea. It is the right time for passengers to understand that there are dangers on a cruise vacation that they may not always be aware of.  MSNBC has a timely report on an increasing number of inciden...

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According to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the numbers of food poisoning outbreaks on cruise ships were at their lowest in years in 2010.  The agency reported that in 2010, it recorded just 11 outbreaks of food poisoning on cruise vessels, compared to 14 outbreaks the previous year. In 2006, the cruise ship ind...

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Barely a few weeks after the deadly Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster, passengers on another cruise vessel have been traumatized by a cruise ship accident.  According to Costa Cruises, a fire recently broke out in the engine room of the Costa Allegra. Cruise officials insist that the fire was contained and extinguished quickly. The fire did ...

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The questions of liability for workers injured in a maritime environment and the jurisdictions of the courts that may properly hear such maritime claims is complicated by issues such as state versus federal jurisdiction and liability for injuries that arise in areas where state versus national versus international territorial waterways may not b...

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A leak in a fuel oil return line was the cause of an engine-room fire that disabled a Carnival cruise ship last weekend, a U.S. Coast Guard official said Monday. The fire left the Triumph disabled in the Gulf of Mexico for five days and the 4,200 passengers and crew without power or working toilets. A spokesman from Carnival Cruise Lines said M...

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A fuel tank exploded and caught fire close to a cruise ship in the North Mole Cruise Line terminal of the British territory of Gibraltar on Tuesday, injuring at least two people.  The diesel fuel tank was used to refuel ships, and was located extremely close to the giant Royal Caribbean cruise ship the Independence of the Seas.  This type of fi...

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Conditions aboard the crippled Carnival Triumph are continuing to deteriorate as the vessel is towed toward port in Mobile, Ala., today. The cruise ship, which was stranded in the Gulf of Mexico after an engine room fire knocked out its four engines, is expected to arrive late tonight. The 900-foot-long vessel was expected to arrive in port earl...

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Investigators are looking into incidents of sexual assault of child passengers involving a crew member on two luxury cruise liners. The alleged sexual assault occurred on the Cunard vessels, the Queen Mary 2 and the Queen Elizabeth over a five-year period. The suspect is from the United Kingdom. Local police have confirmed that they are investi...

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Rescue operations again were suspended Friday after the stricken Costa Concordia shifted in choppy seas off the Italian coast, increasing concerns about a possible fuel leak. Eleven people have been confirmed dead and at least 22 are still missing after the cruise liner struck rocks and capsized off the coast of the tiny island of Giglio. Also...

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Close to a dozen people, including crew members and passengers, have been confirmed dead in the deadly Costa Concordia cruise line accident last week. While people have been seeing horrific images of the overturned vessel and the rescue operations, the New York Times is drawing attention to what maritime lawyers know is a serious problem - the l...

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A sightseeing vessel ran aground in Alaska’s Glacier Bay, filling the vessel with water. Seventy-six people were rescued, but none were seriously injured, U.S. Coast Guard officials said. The boat was stabilized after the accident, and there were no signs of spills or other pollution. Most of the passengers were transferred to a Holland America...

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At least two cruise ships operated by Princess Cruise Lines have been struck by norovirus poisoning. According to news reports, the quick-spreading gastrointestinal illness affected passengers on board the Ruby Princess and the Crown Princess. Both the ships are operated by Princess Cruise Lines.  Earlier news reports have held that a total of ...

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More than 4,000 passengers and crewmembers were stranded after an engine fire left a Carnival cruise ship disabled in the Gulf of Mexico. The Carnival Triumph was moving around 150 miles off the Yucatan Peninsula when the fire broke out. The ship’s automatic fire extinguishing systems activated and contained the fire to the engine room, but the...

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There are many laws, statutes and precedents that apply exclusively to maritime law. There are different regulations and compensation rules for sailors, dock workers, shipbuilders and others who work in port environments. Cargo ships and cruise ships are often owned by citizens of other countries or registered in other countries. This means that...

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The world's first clinical trial into the use of embryonic stem cells to treat spinal cord injury is continuing in California. Last week, another patient, the first from California, enlisted in the trial. This person has been paralyzed waist down, and is currently undergoing stem cell injection therapy at the Santa Clara Medical Valley Center. ...

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A 57 year old American passenger on a cruise vessel has been confirmed dead after a gastroenteritis outbreak on the vessel. The death occurred on the MS Veendam operated by Holland America, and occurred when the vessel was docked at a port at Rio de Janeiro. Earlier, at least 87 passengers on the vessel had fallen sick with a bout of stomach fl...

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An investigation by the NSW Office of Transport Safety has found several breaches of safety regulations at Australia's Capt. Cook's Cruises. These breaches include failure to record passenger injuries properly, and poor maintenance of vessels. Inspectors with the NSW Office of Transport Safety began investigating the Sydney-based fleet of 14 cr...

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A seaman his filed suit in a New Orleans federal court, claiming he sustained disabling injuries from a fall after slipping on a vessel’s wooden floor. The Jones Act lawsuit accuses Big R Towing Inc. of negligence for failing to maintain the vessel and her appurtenances in a safe and reasonable state of repair.  The lawsuit also claims the defe...

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A class-action lawsuit filed Feb. 18 in Florida claims Carnival Corp. was negligent for allowing the cruise ship Triumph to embark on a five-day cruise when it knew the vessel was prone to mechanical issues. The ship experienced an engine-room fire three days in and spent five days disabled in the Gulf of Mexico while tugboats towed it to port ...

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In the wake of the Costa Concordia cruise ship tragedy, attention has been focused on what seems to be the despicable behavior of the captain, Francesco Schettino. He currently faces charges of manslaughter in the tragedy that has confirmed to have killed more than 11 people. However, it is his behavior in abandoning his vessel while passengers ...

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Five more bodies were found Tuesday, bringing the total dead to 11 after the Costa Concordia hit rocks and capsized Friday off the Italian coast. The search for missing continued as navy explosives experts blasted a hole in the vessel’s hull to provide access to search-and-rescue teams. The ship’s captain was still in jail as investigators cont...

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Five crewmembers were killed and three injured during a safety drill when a lifeboat from a cruise ship fell upside down into the sea earlier this month. The British-operated vessel was in port when the accident occurred, with about 1,400 passengers onboard. When emergency crews arrived on the scene, the small lifeboat could be seen capsized al...

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning about a new highly contagious strain of the norovirus bug, which is also commonly known as the “cruise ship bug.”  This bug often makes it undesirable presence felt during cruise ship journeys, bringing down crewmembers and passengers with symptoms including nausea, vomiting and abdominal...

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As cruise ship injury lawyers, we try to draw attention to unsafe conditions on cruise ships, so that passengers can make informed decisions. Last month, a cruise vessel operated by Royal Caribbean Cruises failed a health inspection by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Inspectors from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...

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The captain of a cruise liner that ran aground and capsized off the Tuscan coast Friday, leaving 6 dead, is being held by authorities for suspected manslaughter. A search of the ship was continuing Monday in rough seas for 16 people still unaccounted for. A prosecutor confirmed they also were investigating allegations that the captain abandoned...

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Spurred by the deadly Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster, cruise lines belonging to three industry groups have announced new requirements for implementation of emergency muster drills for passengers before a cruise begins.  The policy was announced by the Cruise Lines International Association, the European Cruise Council, and the Passenger S...

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After five days adrift in the Gulf of Mexico, the Carnival cruise ship Triumph finally came into port late Thursday night. It took several hours for the more than 4,200 passengers and crewmembers to disembark the stinking vessel, which was disabled after an engine-room fire Sunday while returning to Galveston on the third day of a four-day cruis...

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Passengers aboard the disabled Carnival cruise ship Triumph are struggling with dismal and deteriorating conditions, according to one passenger. The ship is being towed to a port in Alabama after a fire in the engine room left the Triumph disabled in the Gulf of Mexico. "Elderly and handicap are struggling, the smell is gross," said passenger A...

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Every year, more than 20 million people in the United States suffer from norovirus poisoning. Many of these persons are on vacation on a cruise ship when they contract the infection. In fact, norovirus poisoning can spread very quickly on a cruise vessel, because of the close proximity of hundreds of people to each other. Research into the deve...

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A 15-year-old passenger on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship has alleged that she was sexually assaulted by two fellow passengers on a cruise line this Christmas.  The two male passengers, including a 20-year-old man and a 15-year-old boy, are being accused of luring the young girl to a private room, where they allegedly raped her. The incident occ...

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Documents, obtained from a suspected terrorist who was questioned by police in Berlin, reveal plans by the terrorist group Al Qaeda to attack cruise vessels. The documents, which have now been obtained by CNN, have been retrieved from the terrorist, an Austrian man, who was questioned by police. Investigators found digital storage devices and s...

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The cruise line company that operated the Costa Concordia, the cruise vessel that partially sank off the Italian coast killing 32 people, has now launched a new cruise ship.  The Costa Fascinosa cost $530 million to build, and weighs more than 140,000 tons. The launch of the ship comes just months after the Costa Concordia disaster. The Costa C...

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Francesco Schettino, former captain of the Costa Concordia, faced survivors of the fatal cruise ship crash as proceedings began in determining whether he would stand trial for allegations of manslaughter and abandoning ship. Six crewmembers, including Schettino, are under investigation, as well as three workers in Costa’s crisis unit.  Schetti...

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An Indonesian cruise ship crewmember has been confirmed dead after an attack of meningitis on a cruise vessel. The 32-year-old crewman had been hospitalized in a city in Italy, and had been undergoing treatment for his illness. He was a crew member on an MSC cruise vessel, the MSC Orchestra. At least 3 of his colleagues had also taken ill on th...

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For years, it has been one of the biggest mysteries in the cruise industry. 26-year-old George Smith disappeared from his vacation on a Royal Caribbean cruise liner back in 2005. His body was never found, and speculation about his disappearance has continued since. Now, new details have emerged about his disappearance.  According to the New Yor...

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Over the past week, two passengers on two separate cruise vessels had to be medically evacuated after they fell ill. In the first case, a passenger on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship began showing symptoms of appendicitis on the Explorer of the Seas cruise ship. The vessel was about 130 miles southwest of Key West at the time, and was heading back...

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