Maritime Injury Lawyer Blog

GIGLIO, Italy - Two more bodies were discovered Monday near the Internet cafe on the fourth deck, according Franco Gabrielli, head of the civil protection agency.

The bodies were identified as two women which now brings the total number of the dead to 15. Eighteen passengers are still missing.

Gabrielli said that the bodies have yet to be removed from the ship and the nationalities of the victims have yet to be determined.

The Costa Concordia cruise ship still lies on its side partially submerged as the search continues for the remaining missing.

GIGLIO, ITALY - Sandor Feher, a Hungarian violinist, has been identified as the first body recovered from the Costa Cruiseliner disaster on Wednesday, January 18th. Feher was a 38-year-old violinist from Hungary who was working as a musician on the ship at the time of the accident.

Continue reading "11 Dead 21 Missing in Wreck" »

ROME, ITALY - A sixth body has been discovered in the wreck of the Costa cruise liner which hit a reef off the coast of Italy on Friday night on Jan.13th. Confusion still remains over the number of victims thought to be missing, but so far 15 are unaccounted for.

Six people are confirmed dead and prosecutors are investigating the ship's captain for manslaughter, abandoning ship and causing a shipwreck. The ship's owner says the captain, Francesco Schettino, caused the wreck by deviating from the authorized course.

Continue reading "Sixth Body Recovered from Costa Cruise" »

A 26-year-old woman has been confirmed dead after she fell off the vintage cruise liner, the Queen Mary. The woman was on a walkway leading to the liner when she fell. Her boyfriend and a ship employee who jumped into the water to save her, were rescued.

Witnesses saw the woman climbing over the railing of the walkway just before she fell about 35 feet into the ice-cold water.  Her boyfriend jumped into the water after her, and began to develop hypothermia. One of the ship's employees jumped in to rescue him.

When rescue personnel arrived at the scene, they found all 3 people in the water. The woman's boyfriend was developing hypothermia, and was taken to hospital. The 2nd officer was taken to a local hospital for treatment. The woman could not be saved.  According to police, they are treating this as an accidental death.

No injuries were reported after a small fire broke out on a Celebration cruise ship. Florida-based Celebration Cruise Line reported a small explosion and fire on its Bahamas Celebration ship.

According to news reports, one of the generators on the ship blew a rod and piston. This led to an oil leak, which quickly caught fire. The flames were put out by the ship's fire suppression system. Celebration Cruise Line has stated that power to supply to the vessel was not cut off. No injuries were reported in the explosion or the fire, however, the ship's air conditioning apparently is no longer working.

An American tourist died aboard a cruise liner docked in the port of Rio Tuesday after Brazilian authorities were told that 86 people on board had been sickened by stomach flu.

The woman died aboard the MS Veendam, a luxury vessel owned by the U.S. cruise company Holland America Line which sailed from Valparaiso, Chile and docked with 1,800 people on board, most of them foreigners, officials said.

Continue reading "U.S. tourist dies on cruise ship" »

The death of a cruise ship crew member, who fell into the Lyttelton Harbour in New Zealand and died, is being linked to a rusted rope that was so corroded it broke.

The Indonesian crewmember fell off a lifeboat.  He was greasing the wires of the lifeboat on the side of the MS Volendam along with a fellow worker when the wire broke, and the two men fell into the water.  Other crew members on the vessel threw a bucket into the water, rescuing one of the crewmembers.  However, the Indonesian crewmember died.  His body was recovered several hours later.  Neither crew member had been wearing a life jacket at the time.

Continue reading "Cruise Ship Crew Death" »

Celebrity Cruises has canceled all parasailing trips in the Caribbean following an accident in St. Thomas that left one passenger dead and another critically injured. Royal Caribbean, Celebrity's sister line, has followed suit.

A 60-year-old passenger sailing on Celebrity Eclipse, identified as Bernice Kraftcheck, 60, died as a result of her fall. Her daughter, Danielle Haese, 34, who was riding in tandem, is being treated at Hospital in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas. Celebrity Cruises spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez confirmed that the mother and daughter were participating in a ship-sponsored shore excursion.

Continue reading "Parasailing Cancelled after Death " »

A passenger aboard the Holland America cruise ship Maasdam is dead and an investigation is underway to find out how died in the Northuberland Strait.

The Holland America Line statement issued Tuesday, says it's "thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends during this difficult time. "On October 4, 2011, shortly after arriving in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, a 75-year-old male guest aboard ms Maasdam was reported missing by his wife at approximately 8:12 a.m. local time," said the statement. "The ship immediately began a ship-wide search and did not locate the guest."

Continue reading "Cruise ship passenger dead" »

Mexican authorities are searching for a 39-year-old man who was seen jumping off a Carnival cruise ship near Cozumel.

Carnival officials said the man reportedly jumped off the Conquest ship Friday night. The ship returned to the location where the man was last seen and began searching for him. According to a statement from the cruise line, Mexican authorities searched the ship and then allowed it to continue on its scheduled trip.

The ship is expected to return to its home port of Galveston, Texas, on Sunday after a seven-day cruise.

Two crewmembers were killed, and more than 200 passengers had to be evacuated after a fire broke out on a Norwegian cruise vessel last week.

The fire broke out on the MS Nordly, and led to the evacuation of the 207 passengers on board the vessel, as well as 15 crew members. However, two crew members, aged 18 and 57, were killed.  Their bodies were found in the engine room. At least nine other crewmembers suffered injuries, including smoke inhalation and burns. Two persons were seriously injured.  At least two rescue personnel suffered smoke inhalation injuries, and had to receive treatment.

Continue reading "Two Crewmembers Killed" »

According to reports by the Royal Gazette, a passenger of the Carnival Cruise Lines' Fantasy ship has died while visiting during an island visit in Bermuda while snorkeling one mile offshore.

The 79-year-old tourist was confirmed to be a U.S. citizen, but his identity has not been disclosed. Police stated the man taken onshore and attended to by EMTs was part of a snorkeling tour group and had entered an unresponsive state and was pronounced dead at 12:55pm on Sunday. The Fantasy had departed from the Port of Charleston in South Carolina, which docked into Bermuda just a day before his death.

Continue reading "Cruise Ship Passenger Dies" »

Authorities are struggling to deal with what is being described as the worst maritime incident in Russia's history. A riverboat with between 180 and 210 people capsized on the Volga River. More than 100 people including dozens of children, are still missing.

The Bulgaria had been cruising in the Kuybyshev Reservoir. When boats reached the scene they found people clinging to life vests and boat debris. 82 people have been pulled out of the water. One death has been confirmed.

Continue reading "100 Missing in Riverboat Accident" »

Royal Caribbean Cruises has been rebuked by a Florida judge, who has ruled that the cruise vessel showed grave indifference to the safety of its crewmembers and passengers.  The ruling came in a lawsuit filed after a toxic gas exposure incident on a Royal Caribbean Cruises vessel. Three crew members died, and at least 19 passengers were injured in that incident.

The poison gas exposure incident occurred on the Monarch of the Seas in September 2005.  The three crewmembers were repairing a pipe when there was a sudden release of high levels of hydrogen sulfide, killing them instantly. At least 19 people on the cruise line were injured. The lawsuit had been filed by a crew member on board at the time.
According to the judge, there was enough evidence to indicate that Royal Caribbean Cruises' conduct in this incident was intentional or an indication of gross negligence.

Continue reading "Gross Negligence Caused Deaths" »

Several passengers on board a Royal Caribbean cruise ship were injured by an explosion near their vessel. The vessel, Independence of the Seas had been docked in Gibraltar when there was an explosion in a nearby fuel tank. 10-foot-high flames shot into the air.  At least 10 passengers were injured seriously and required medical attention.

Cruise authorities say that they took steps immediately retract the gangway and move the ship away to safety as soon possible after the explosion occurred. It is believed the blast was caused by welding sparks from the tank. However, the possibility of an attack on the ship exists, and is being investigated.

Two persons on the tank were also injured seriously, including the welder who suffered burn injuries. A police officer was also injured during rescue operations. There was no damage to the Cruise vessel, and it continued on its journey to Cannes.