Cruise Ship Accident Brings Up Question of Seaworthiness

Staff Writer — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 15:43:19 GMT

Just two short weeks after our post about boating accidents being on the rise, a really, really, REALLY BIG boat (OK, a ship) was involved in an incident off of Florida's east coast yesterday. The Crown Princess cruise ship accident has been all over pretty much every news outlet since it nearly rolled over Tuesday. The fact that dozens of passengers were injued (some reports report as many as 20 serious injuries) has been wel documented. But while I was scouring the news to get as much information as I could about the Crown Princess, which, as it turns out, embarked on its maiden voyage only last month, I ran across this interesting tidbit from The Travel Bloggers:

Do you wonder if the Princess and the cruise industry just dodged a huge bullet and this ship is not seaworthy? Or was this just a fluke occurrence that the steering problem tha caused the roll was human error?

Obvioulsy the author is just thinking out loud, but it was a possibility that I hadn't considered or seen brought up in all the news coverage.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Staff Writer

Boating Accidents in Florida on Rise

Joe Saunders — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 08:15:17 GMT

This year has seen a 19% spike in boating accidents from last year which had been the highest in a decade. This has state officials worried and searching for answers to stem the tide. During the first six months this year, 38 people died in Florida boating accidents, compared to 32 through the first six months of 2005. In all, 80 people died in Florida boating mishaps last year.

The increase in boating mishaps is partly blamed on the fact that there are more than 1million vessels registered in the state of Florida.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Joe Saunders

Sarasota Personal Injury Lawyer - Maritime Law

Cruise Ship Accident Brings Up Question of Seaworthiness

Boating Accidents in Florida on Rise