Foul conditions aboard stranded Carnival cruise ship Triumph
Passengers on the nightmare Carnival cruise ship stranded in the Gulf of Mexico are using patchy cellphone coverage today to reveal that ‘conditions are getting worse by the hour.’
Some of the 4,200 people on board reported that cabin carpets are soaked in urine, passengers are sleeping in tents on deck and scarce food supplies has reduced them to eating cold onion sandwiches.
The ship has been stranded since Sunday after a fire in the engine room crippled the power system.
The first tug boat reached the Carnival Triumph on Monday night and it is being towed to Mobile, Alabama at the rate of a few miles per hour. It is expected to crawl into its destination on Thursday.
Reports say that there are only five working bathrooms for the more than 3,000 passengers on board.
The rest are being asked by the crew aboard the vessel to urinate in cabin showers and defecate in bags.
Those on board were only able to make contact with land via their phones when sister ship, the Carnival Legend pulled up alongside to drop off limited supplies on life rafts.
Holidaymakers have been forced to sleep outside as there is no air conditioning in their sweltering cabins.
Some passengers have no options other than bags or buckets for toilets with reports of ‘raw sewage running down the walls’.
David Raynes, from New Hampshire, is on sister ship the Carnival Legend.
He took a picture of passengers on the Triumph on Monday, lined along the top deck, staring out to sea.
He wrote on Facebook: ‘Our ship shuttled supplies to them, which was not an easy task due to the wind and high waves – it was hard for the boat they were using to get up close to the other cruise ship and then back to ours. They made at least two trips.
‘Another ship, the Conquest, came along to bring more food to them. We could hear announcements from the Triumph, and their guests cheered when they heard the news that a tugboat was just 17 miles away. It arrived before we left. We were there about five hours.
The ship is listing to 4.5 degrees and although not dangerous, the angle of the boat is ‘not normal and would definitely be felt by passengers walking around’, an expert told MailOnline.
A 25-mph south-southeasterly wind has made it too difficult to tow the ship to its original destination of Progreso, Mexico, so the vessel has changed course and is heading north to Alabama.
At least one person has also been transferred off the ship because they are in need of dialysis and can’t wait for the power to come back on.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it has opened an investigation into an engine room fire that crippled a cruise ship carrying more than 4,000 people in the Gulf of Mexico.
The NTSB said in a statement Tuesday that the agency and the U.S. Coast Guard are sending investigators to Mobile.
The NTSB says the Bahamas Maritime Agency will lead the investigation since the ship carries a Bahamian flag.
The Carnival Triumph was left stranded 150 miles off the coast of Mexico after a fire broke out in the engine room.
By Monday afternoon, some of the ship’s power had been restored, but not enough to get the disabled ship moving again.
Although none of the 3,150 passengers and 1,100 crew were injured, the ship was adrift off southern Yucatan peninsula for an entire day before the tugboat arrived.
The engine room fire, which took place on Sunday morning, was quickly contained thanks to the automatic fire extinguishing system and but the ship was left to operate on emergency generator power, Carnival Cruise Lines said in a statement.
This is the latest commercial catastrophe to hit Carnival Cruise Lines, which reported it’s ‘most challenging year’ in the history of the company in 2012.
CRUISE SHIP ACCIDENTS AND INJURIES
When a passenger on a cruise ship is injured, the law that applies to an injury claim will most likely be the General Maritime Law of the United States. At least if the ship is operated by one of the major cruise lines based in the U.S. such as Princess Cruise Lines, Crystal Cruises, Cunard Line, Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Lines and most all of the others you will be familiar with.
Under U.S. Maritime Law, a cruise line can be held liable for damages if it negligently causes injury to a passenger, no matter where in the world the injury occurs. Negligence can involve something dramatic, such as the listing event on the Crown Princess several years ago when a navigational error nearly caused the ship to capsize, injuring hundreds of passengers. Negligence will certainly be a litigated topic for survivors and family members of passengers aboard the Costa Concordia, the Carnival-owned cruise ship that ran aground off the coast of Italy in January 2012.
But usually the negligence is of a more ordinary sort. For example a deck that becomes unusually slippery when wet or a poorly marked tripping or falling hazard. And unfortunately, this sort of negligence is all to common on Cruise Ships.
U.S. Maritime Law protects you on these ships, no matter where in the world the injury occurs. And foreign passengers enjoy the same rights as a U.S. citizens. But there are important limit on your rights as well that you need to be aware of.
Time Limitation
One of the most important of these limitations is that Cruise Lines are allowed to shorten the time you have to make a claim, and limit the place where you can file suit. Almost all the cruise lines require an injured passenger to give them written notice of the claim within 6 months and to file suit within one year of the date of the injury.
Venue Limitation
The second, the passage ticket will limit the place where you can file suit. Most of the major cruise lines specify either Los Angeles or Miami but some lines specify other cities.
The time and place limits on filing suit must be stated in plain language in your passage ticket so you must check your passage ticket to see what limitations apply to you. If you still have questions, and experienced maritime personal injury attorney will know what limitations apply for any of the major cruise lines.
Contact a Cruise Ship Accidents and Injuries Attorney
You have rights under maritime law that can protect you, but you also have obligations you must comply with. Our mission is to help you understand both.
Our attorney’s are available for a no cost, no obligation consultation 24/7. To arrange a consultation, please call us today toll-free at 1-877-465-8711.
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