Wednesday, July 1, 2009

When A Fun Cruise Turns Into A Tragedy Onboard Ship

Every year thousands of people take cruises and watching their commercials or leafing through their brochures, it looks like a fun and active vacation. What they do not say is what the experienced cruise ship personal injury attorney can say before taking a cruise. There are accidents, assaults and cruise ship rapes that occur more often than anyone would think is possible. The numbers are frightening and many people would not go on cruises if they knew the amount of people that are assaulted.

When a fun cruise turns into a tragedy onboard ship, there are some things the Orange County, Miami, or Los Angeles cruise ship personal injury attorney will explain, first of all, out on the ocean there is no longer the protection of the United States laws. This means there are complicated maritime laws and not every personal injury attorney is experienced or has an intimate knowledge of these laws. This is why as a resident of Bakersfield it is important to seek the experienced cruise ship personal injury attorney when a cruise has turned tragic.

This is not something new; the statistics that have been kept between 1993 and 1998 showed there were 108 assaults that included both crewmembers and passengers that were assaulted. Even though this was some time ago, it represents assaulted victims and the assaults continue today in even greater number.

What this means is that cruise ships have not been safe for sometime and there has not been much done to protect the passengers from an assault. This also means that staying on a ship until it returns to port with the attacker.

When a fun cruise turns into a tragedy onboard ship for the Bakersfield resident, while this will have long lasting effects there is an answer to help begin the healing. That is to consult with a cruise ship personal injury attorney, because they know the complicated laws that apply to cruise ship assaults. They also know that the owner of the cruise ship would like nothing better than the passenger from Bakersfield to go home thinking that since they were at sea there is nothing that can be done.

This of course is not true, the experienced Orange County cruise ship personal injury attorney can build a case for the assault victim holding not only the attacker responsible, but also the cruise line that did not protect the passenger from harm aboard their ship.

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Los Angeles, CA 90071
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Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Passenger Falls From Cruise Ship

May 26, 2009 (by Otto Smyth)

According to reports by cruise ship accident attorneys, an 18 year old has fallen overboard from the cruise ship Carnival Fantasy.

The man has been identified as Bruce O’Krepki and is on of the 69 new graduates of the St. Thomas Aquinas high school in Hammond Louisiana. O’Krepki, his family and approximately 30 of their classmates and families were on the cruise ship that left New Orleans and was on its way to Key West.

The teen reportedly fell over the rails of the Carnival Fantasy that his parents were chaperones aboard the cruise ship. The incident occurred approximately 150 miles southwest of Tampa on Sunday evening.

According to Coast Guard Petty Officer Rob Simpson the Coast Guard has been searching for two days by boat and air for O’Krepki. There have been two planes and a Coast Guard cutter searching for the teen.

O’Krepki graduated with honors from his high school May 9th and was to attend Louisiana State University on an academic scholarship according to his uncle Rick O’Krepki. He also stated the teen ran track and played soccer in high school.

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No Surveillance Tapes Released By Norwegian Cruise Line

March 23, 2009

According to reports Norwegian Cruise Line has refused to release their surveillance tapes after a violent attack on a passenger.

The man attacked is identified as Matthew Ashe a resident of Stevenson Washington who has filed a suit against the Norwegian Cruise Lines after a violent assault on him. Where three men with beer bottles attacked him, he was also kicked and punched during the attack during a March 2008 cruise on the Norwegian Star.

The cruise on the Norwegian Star was taken with Ashe’s parents who have requested that the cruise line provide them with a copy of the surveillance tapes so their son can identify his attackers. The surveillance tapes recorded the attack and the Norwegian Cruise Line has let the request by Ashe’s parents go unanswered for the past year. The Ashe family along with a local law firm requested the surveillance tapes to identify the three men to the FBI.

The next step the Ashe’s took was to hire a maritime attorney located in Miami Florida, the same city the cruise line is based. The response the maritime attorney has gotten was having their emails to the Norwegian Cruise Line block their emails.

The family has now filed a Federal law suit in Miami in order to obtain the surveillance tapes in order to have the information they need to give the FBI about the assault. They have also joined the International Cruise Victims, which is a non profit organization based in Washington state. They also intend to contact their congressional representatives so other cruise passengers do not have these problems.

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When Your Vacation Has Been Ruined Because Of A Rape Assault

There are literally an endless amount of individuals and entire families that take in a ton of enjoyment by taking an exciting and fun cruise each year to many different amazingly beautiful areas of the world. It is a very unique type of vacation that allows you to let go of all of your worries, pull your hair down, and put all of the cares of the world way back into the furthest recesses of your mind. It is also a time when you and each of the members of your family can take advantage of planning numerous different fun and adventurous activities that you simply are not able to do anywhere else. Unfortunately however there are times when these memorable vacations can turn into a complete nightmare. Unexpected injuries can occur, painful and frustrating seasickness can often grab a hold of you with a vengeance, or an assault could occur such as a rape. When your entire vacation has been totally ruined because of a rape assault that was forced on one of your loved ones by a waiter or other employee onboard a cruise ship, you need to know who you can turn to in making sure that justice prevails.

It does not matter if you are from Santa Monica or one of the surrounding areas, you will want the assurance that you will be receiving only the utmost in knowledge and professionalism that a cruise ship rape attorney can provide for the victimized member of your family. The attorneys have a vast storehouse of knowledge in this specific type of traumatic assault and they have spent numerous years helping several other individuals who have become the victim of rape while they were trying to simply enjoy a family vacation while they were onboard a cruise ship. Depending on the specific area of the oceans waters that the assault occurred, there may be special maritime laws that will apply to your individual case. The expertise of only the most knowledgeable, professional, and compassionate cruise ship rape attorneys has the experience that is often required when these types of special laws apply to your case.

When your vacation has been totally ruined because you became the victim of a rape assault, you need to turn to a cruise ship rape attorney that will continuously review and study each aspect of your case until they know that the guilty part will pay for his wrong doing.

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Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Environmental Group Worries Cruise Ships Polluting Ocean Waters

According to the environmental group, Oceana, there is a growing concern about the amount of pollution that is being dumped into the ocean daily by cruise ships. This pollution includes sewage, solid waste and garbage, along with toxic chemicals and oily bilge water.

According to the Seattle International Travel Examiner, there are some cruise lines that are making an attempt to change this ocean pollution, this includes Princess Cruises, Holland America, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Celeberty and Norwegian Cruise Lines. These companies according to the newspaper have implemented environmental standards to correct their pollution.

Princess Cruises and Holland America ships have the ability to plug into hydroelectric power while the ships are in port to reduce the air pollution from the ships idling. Holland America has also begun using ships that use hybrid powered systems and have a seawater scrubbing emission system to help reduce air pollution.

There are two smaller cruise lines that have begun implementing environmental measures, these are Lindblad Expeditions and Adventure Smith. These measures include offsetting their carbon footprint, new sustainable technologies and purchasing seafood that is from sustainable sources.

The Alaska cruise industry is not following the other cruise lines and had requested the water pollution rule be abolished earlier in the year. This pollution rule was approved by voters in 2006 and according to the Alaska cruise industry it is unfavorable to tourism.

The Union of Concerned Scientists has developed a green travel guide, this compares the amount of carbon dioxide emissions from different types of transportation, and which leave the least carbon footprint. The report determines the impact on the environment by using several factors; the type of transportation, the distance it will be traveling and the amount of people.

Oceana has put together their own numbers for the average pollution cause by cruise ships daily spilling into the ocean.

• Seven tons of garbage and solid waste
• 25,000 gallons of sewage from toilets
• 143,000 gallons of sewage from sinks, galleys and showers
• 7,000 gallons of bilge water
• 15 gallons of toxic chemicals

Cruise ship lawsuit attorneys will be watching this closely along with consumer groups.


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Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Coast Guard Rescues Woman From Aboard Coral Princess Cruise Ship

May 18, 2009 (by Otto Smyth)

According to reports by a cruise ship accident lawyer, the Coast Guard rescued a woman aboard a cruise ship Sunday afternoon.

The Coast Guard was notified at approximately 1:45 p.m. on Sunday that a woman on the Coral Princess nearly drowned in the ships pool.

The Coral Princess was 30 miles west of Bodega Bay when the incident occurred. The woman identified as being age 57 was evacuated by the Coast Guard and then air lifted to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.

The 57 year old woman is believed to be in good condition, according to reports.
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Saturday, May 2, 2009

Cruise Ship Passenger Injured By Exploding Fire Extinguisher

May 2, 2009

According to reports by Celebrity Cruise Ship accident lawyers, a cruise ship passenger was by an exploding fire extinguisher while disembarking from the ship.

The ship docked at Port Everglades according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office was the Celebrity Infinity. According to sheriff’s spokeswoman Dani Moschella the incident occurred at approximately 10:00 a.m. when passengers were disembarking from the ship.

There was some panic according to Moschella when two canisters exploded, the first canister exploded when a worker threw it in the back of a truck. The canister was a fire extinguisher that, because of the trucks movement shot through the trucks window.

The flying canister struck one of the passengers disembarking from the ship knocking the person to the ground and injuring him. Paramedics transported the injured passenger to Broward General Medical Center.

Approximately 30 minutes after the incident a crewmember was removing another canister from the ship that also exploded according to Moschella. The hazardous materials unit and paramedics arrived on the scene as more people were said to have been injured. The explosions are said to have been a coincidence according to the hazardous materials unit and the incidents are now under investigation.


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