What Happens if You Go Overboard on a Cruise Ship?
If a passenger falls overboard, cruise ships should follow set protocols to mark the passenger’s location, inform the appropriate authorities, and promptly launch search and rescue efforts.
Failure to do these things could delay a passenger’s rescue, increasing their risk of drowning or dying from falling injuries. Falls overboard typically happen because of negligence, such as a lack of safety protections, making the cruise ship company liable. For victims or their survivors to hold negligent cruise ships responsible for damages, they must file claims on time. We can prepare your case to file it by the deadline while tracking your losses from the accident, both economic and non-economic.
Rivkind Margulies & Rivkind, P.A. can review your case for free when you call our cruise ship injury lawyers today at (305) 204-5369.
What Must Happen When a Passenger Goes Overboard from a Cruise Ship?
Because the risk of death from falls overboard is so high, cruise ships should have protocols to respond to reports of passengers falling into the water, and crew members should respond to such accidents accordingly.
The first thing that should happen when a passenger falls overboard is to notify the captain and activate man overboard procedures immediately. This should include marking the exact location where the passenger fell into the water and deploying immediate rescue boats if possible. Cruise ships must also alert the U.S. Coast Guard or other appropriate maritime authorities and should request assistance with search and rescue efforts if needed.
Per the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2010 (CVSSA), cruise ships must maintain technology to identify passengers who have fallen overboard and detect when passengers fall from ships into the water so that they can conduct timely search and rescue operations. If a passenger disappears from a cruise and it is unclear if they have fallen overboard, the cruise must report the incident to the FBI under the CVSSA.
Cruise ships should go on to conduct diligent search and rescue operations to locate passengers who have fallen overboard. The cruise ship should cover the cost of these efforts entirely. In addition to owing passengers a duty of care to ensure their safety to the best of their ability, cruise ships also owe passengers a duty to perform reasonable search and rescue after getting reports of passengers falling overboard.
Why Do Falls Overboard Happen on Cruise Ships?
Falls overboard happen for various reasons, such as a lack of safety protections for passengers. The CVSSA requires 42-inch guardrails around all decks on cruises, and not following these mandates could lead to fatal falls overboard.
Weather can also factor into passengers falling from decks and into the water. Bad weather, like strong winds and rain, could make decks slippery and unsafe, and the crew should prevent passengers from accessing these areas when dangerous. Failure to warn passengers of the threat of inclement weather could lead to falls overboard.
Other causes of these accidents include overcrowding on decks, intoxication due to overserving from crew members, and other events, like intentional assaults.
It is unclear how many falls overboard from cruises occur each year, as publishing this information would likely deter passengers from taking trips with certain cruise lines. That is understood that falls from cruise ships have a high fatality rate for several reasons. When victims hit the water after falling from great heights, they could sustain broken bones and other severe harm, like spinal cord injuries. Victims might be knocked unconscious by a fall, leading to fatal drowning incidents.
What Must Happen for Victims to Hold Cruise Ships Liable for Falls Overboard?
Victims who survive falls overboard due to cruise ship negligence can sue for damages, as can the survivors of victims who sustain fatal injuries. For this to happen, plaintiffs must file on time and present evidence of the cruise ship’s failure to uphold their duty of care.
File on Time
The statute of limitations for cruise ship injuries, including those sustained during falls overboard, is typically just one year. Victims might face other hurdles when bringing claims, particularly regarding jurisdiction and venue. Cruise ships often stipulate venues for civil litigation in passenger tickets. Because many cruise ship companies are headquartered in Florida, they might require injured passengers to file claims there to seek compensatory damages. Our Key West, FL boat accident lawyers can help victims navigate these situations, especially if they live far from where they must file their lawsuits.
Confirm Negligence
We also need to confirm how the victim fell overboard and if it was purely accidental or due to the cruise ship’s negligence in some manner. The latter is typically true, even if not immediately obvious to victims or their survivors. Because cruise ships need to maintain onboard surveillance systems per the CVSSA, our lawyers can quickly subpoena video footage from cameras near where the victim fell overboard to preserve it. This footage might show the accident’s cause, such as a guardrail collapsing due to poor maintenance.
We can also review the crew’s actions following the accident. For example, did they perform adequate search and rescue operations? Did the ship inform the U.S. Coast Guard or other authorities of the accident or the victim’s disappearance? The answers to these questions will affect the case, which is why our attorneys will carefully investigate what took place after the victim fell overboard.
Identify Damages
To hold cruise ships liable for falls overboard and the injuries victims sustain during such accidents, we must prove that victims incurred damages. When victims survive falls overboard, they often do so with permanent injuries, like anoxic brain injuries. We can help victims and their families monitor losses from medical damages and missed income, as victims who survive falls overboard from cruise ships may not be able to return to work for a long time, if ever.
Call Our Lawyers About Your Cruise Ship Injury Case Today
Call Rivkind Margulies & Rivkind, P.A. at (305) 204-5369 for a free case analysis from our boat accident lawyers.
