Cruise ships offer a multitude of activities and entertainment options. However, the technology that facilitates the cruise experience can be subject to defects and malfunctions that often endanger passenger safety.
Also, cruise staff may fail to perform their function properly, and lack of maintenance or service may make the travel hazardous for you or your family.
If you are a victim of catastrophic injury suffered onboard cruise ships, our dedicated Miami cruise line injury attorney at The Law Offices of Sean M. Cleary can help you secure compensation.
The most prevalent accidents on a cruise ship are:
- Equipment or vessel malfunction
- Slip and fall incidents
- Food poisoning
- Bacteria-infested hot tubs
- Accidental drownings
- Overboard incidents
- Fires
- Assault or robbery
Accidents Caused by Defective Cruise Ship Equipment
When ship equipment is inadequately maintained, improperly operated, or defective, passengers and crew members can suffer serious injuries. Too frequently, cruise ship patrons and crew are injured by many types of defective equipment, including:
- Malfunctioning elevators or escalators
- Defective sliding glass doors
- Faulty recreational equipment
- Improperly stored equipment
- Engine trouble
- Propulsion trouble
- Generator malfunction
- Gangway repairs
- Bridge equipment failure
- Mechanical and plumbing failures
- Other defective products
For example, due to a lack of proper maintenance during the coronavirus pandemic, an elevator failure aboard a cruise ship led to a passenger's tragic death.
When an elevator or escalator malfunctions because it is not adequately maintained, passengers can get body parts trapped within the elevator or escalator or slip and fall, resulting in their suffering serious injuries or death. Other common injuries passengers may suffer due to defective equipment can include:
- Neck, back, and shoulder injuries
- Spinal injuries, including paralysis
- Amputations
- Traumatic brain injury
- Broken or crushed bones
- Internal bleeding and organ damage
- Serious burns, disfigurement, and scarring
- Death
If you were injured by defective equipment while cruising, embarking, or disembarking, you might have a claim for legal compensation. Call us if you would like to talk to an injury lawyer in Miami.
Injuries Caused by Bacteria-Infested Hot Tubs
Hot tubs, jacuzzis, whirlpools, and other similar heated bathing devices onboard cruise ships may be infested with dangerous, flesh-eating bacteria due to the cruise liners' negligent maintenance and operation.
The flesh-eating bacteria in hot tubs caused passengers to suffer health problems. Here are some of them:
- Rashes
- Staphylococcus aureus
- Legionella
- Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
Recently, we helped a client who contracted hot tub folliculitis from a whirlpool on a cruise ship during the COVID-19 pandemic and had to be hospitalized for severe injuries.
If you or someone you know experienced a serious infection or illness after using a ship's hot tub while cruising during the coronavirus pandemic, please feel free to contact Miami-based The Law Offices of Sean M. Cleary.
Serious Complications From Severe Food Poisoning
Food poisoning has occurred on cruise ships, even during the COVID-19 outbreak. Passengers who unknowingly contracted a food-borne illness suffered even more severely while trapped on a cruise ship.
The unwanted effect of the variety of food available on cruise ships is that passengers readily accept all meals without questioning their safety.
Common types of food poisoning that occur during cruises include, but are not limited to:
- Norovirus
- E. coli
- Salmonella
- Rotavirus
- Staphylococcus aureus
- Legionnaire's disease
We recently helped a client who, due to severe food poisoning while being stranded on a cruise ship during the coronavirus outbreak, needed to have one meter of colon and intestines removed. Other serious complications from food poisoning may include:
- Arthritis
- Bleeding problems
- Kidney problems
- Swelling or irritation in the tissue around the heart
- Muscle weakness and sensory loss
- Neurological symptoms, some potentially fatal
Food poisoning is more dangerous for:
- Adults 60 and older
- Children
- Pregnant women
- People with a chronic condition or weak immune system
Costs for food poisoning can be expensive and can include:
- Physician visits
- Hospitalization costs
- Post-hospitalization costs
- Wage loss and productivity loss
The Law Offices of Sean M. Cleary Protects Your Interests in Cruise Ship Accidents
Ship management is responsible for maintaining proper safety standards. When this does not happen and, due to overloaded staff, accidents tend to happen.
If you were a passenger and the cruise line failed to uphold its responsibility for keeping you safe, we are ready to stand up and advocate for you.
If you've lost a family member in a fatal cruise ship accident, you may have the right to file a wrongful death claim.
Our Florida cruise ship injury lawyer can help you seek justice for any suffering that you or a family member endured.