Can You Sue if You Were Stuck at Sea on a Cruise Ship During Covid?
Cruise ship workers from all over the world have found themselves stuck at sea due to the coronavirus. Quarantines on ships often make it difficult for the ship to repatriate workers back to their home countries. On many ships, the conditions have become abysmal, and many workers have turned to thoughts of self-harm or even died waiting for their chance to go home.
If you or a loved one is still trapped on a cruise ship and has been subjected to unsafe conditions or has gone untreated for COVID-19, call Rivkind Margulies & Rivkind, P.A. today. Our attorneys for cruise ship workers stuck at sea due to coronavirus represent injured and deceased cruise workers, and we fight to get them and their families the compensation they need for the unsafe living and working conditions and negligent management by cruise ship companies and crew administrators. For help with your potential case, call our law offices today at (866) 386-1762.
Suing a Cruise Ship for Keeping Workers on Board During Coronavirus
International law, maritime law, and the laws of various countries and states might create significant hurdles for cruise ship crewmembers trying to get back home during the coronavirus pandemic. Many ships have been quarantined with only crew aboard, and some cruise ship companies are having difficulty getting their workers home. While some of these decisions and difficulties are out of the cruise company’s hands, other decisions are fully within the discretion of the captain and the cruise company.
Conditions on cruise ships for workers trapped there during the COVID-19 outbreak have become increasingly more dangerous, according to many reports. Trapped crewmembers are often confined to quarters at all times, which is like putting them in solitary confinement. On ships where crew are permitted to move about, they might be restricted to certain areas and likely cannot socialize with other crewmembers. For many, this isolation has become unbearable, and many have reported suicidal thoughts.
On some ships, deaths have already occurred. Causes of death are being restricted from the public, but it seems likely that some crew workers have died by suicide. In some situations, suicide may have only been possible because ropes, safety nets, and safety railings were not properly installed to prevent suicide attempts from high decks.
Other injuries, unsanitary conditions, and unsafe conditions during quarantine could also be the cruise ship’s fault, meaning that the cruise operators could be held liable in a lawsuit.
Proving Fault Against a Cruise Ship for Crewmember Injury and Death Cases During Coronavirus
To prove that a cruise ship is responsible for a death or injury on board, you must show that they owed the victim a duty. In general, cruise ship operators owe their crew a duty to ensure the ship is seaworthy and to take reasonable steps to provide safe conditions aboard the ship. If the cruise ship company failed to provide adequate safety, allowed coronavirus to spread unchecked, or made serious mistakes in setting sail when they should have reasonably known they would become stranded, the cruise ship company might be responsible for its crew’s suffering.
Our attorneys can help investigate the cause of the quarantine on your ship. If the cruise company that you work for failed to take reasonable steps to prevent or control an outbreak, evacuate passengers and crew, and keep the remaining crewmembers safe on board, they could be responsible for any injuries or death that resulted.
Damages for Injuries and Death for Cruise Ship Workers Stranded on Ships During the COVID-19 Pandemic
The conditions that you or a loved one faced if they were quarantined on a cruise ship during the coronavirus outbreak could have been borderline inhumane. In many cases, leaving people in isolation in small cabin rooms can cause severe psychological distress, and these kinds of conditions could violate their human rights. If quarantine procedures on the ship were not reasonably designed to keep the crewmembers’ health and safety at the forefront, they could now face serious physical injuries from unsanitary conditions, the spread of coronavirus, and other problems. They could also face severe psychological distress.
Damages for physical and mental effects of an injury can be claimed in most lawsuits. Although it might be difficult to explain to someone else what your physical pain and mental or emotional distress were like, you can often get higher damages if you can show through documentation, communications with others, and your own testimony that the effects were serious.
If you or your loved one faced physical conditions that were unsanitary or caused you injury while you were stranded on a cruise ship during the COVID-19 pandemic, you could be entitled to damages for the medical care and lost wages as well. Serious injuries could result if you are living in a cramped space without proper access to toilet and washing facilities and reasonable access to safe food and drinking water. You could end up needed acute medical care to deal with the effects.
If you are suffering from COVID-19 while you are stranded on a cruise ship, you could also need medical care as soon as possible. If you do not receive the care you need, the disease could turn deadly. Those who have lost family members and loved ones to COVID-19 while they were stranded on a cruise ship could be entitled to additional compensation for their loss. These damages could include burial and funeral costs, lost ongoing wages, lost companionship, and other damages.
Talk to a Miami cruise ship injury attorney about what your claim might be worth.
Call Our Lawyers for Cruise Ship Crew Stuck on Cruise Ships During the Coronavirus Outbreak
If you or a loved one is still on a cruise ship during the coronavirus outbreak, you might be entitled to compensation. The cruise companies who still have manned ships at sea should be doing everything in their power to keep their employees safe on board and return them to their homes as soon as possible. Every minute they wait could mean additional physical and psychological harm to these workers. This could entitle you to a lawsuit, and if a loved one died because of these conditions, you could be entitled to substantial compensation. For a free legal consultation on your potential case, contact Rivkind Margulies & Rivkind’s attorneys for cruise ship workers stuck at sea due to coronavirus. Call us today at (866) 386-1762.
