Maritime Claims: What Happens if You Suffer a Cruise Ship Injury
Since the end of the 70’s, cruises have become a very popular vacation for the American middle class. Regrettably, there are a lot of accidents aboard these ships and many passengers suffer very serious cruise ship injuries.
The most typical maritime accidents are:
- Slip and Falls and Trip and Falls due to dangerous conditions aboard the ships such as defective floors, and slippery substances on the floors. These accidents can occur inside the cabins, in and around the pools, on the decks, hallways, access ramps, restaurants, bars, etc.
- Cruise ship accidents during short excursions
- Fires and Maritime Collisions
- Poisoning and Sickness due to contaminated food and drink
- Negligence in providing medical care when it is required.
- Negligence in providing adequate accommodations for handicapped people.
- Physical or sexual assaults perpetrated by the crew or other passengers.
- Unexplained disappearances
- Negligent navigation.
Maritime claims for cruise ship incidents and injuries
Many passengers are not aware that they can receive money compensation for injuries that result from these incidents and accidents on cruise ships. Additionally, they do not know the laws that apply and the location where the lawsuits must be filed. Matters are made more difficult by the fact that most maritime claims have to be filed where the main offices of the cruise company is located. The main offices for most of the main cruise lines that operate in the United States are located in Miami. Therefore, most passenger lawsuits against the cruise lines have to be filed in Miami. As a result of this, most passengers start their maritime lawsuits in Miami after returning to their home states or home countries.
Maritime claims and passengers’ contractual limitations
The passenger ticket is a contract between the passenger and the cruise line.
It contains far more than the itinerary. It imposes severe limitations on a passengers’ ability to file a maritime claim against the company and it must be read very carefully because it will contain all the requirements that must be complied with before a maritime lawsuit can be filed. For example, some companies require written notification of the passenger’s intention to file a lawsuit, and this usually has to be done within six (6) months after the accident.
Maritime claims and statute of limitations
The passenger ticket also contains that statute of limitations. The statute of limitations is the time within which the passenger can file his case against the company. If the passenger does not file the case against the company within the statute of limitations, he will lose all his rights. It is a very short statute of limitations. It is one (1) year from the date of the accident or injury. More passenger cases are lost for failure to comply with the requirements of the ticket and the statute of limitations than for any other reason.
If you suffered cruise ship injuries during your vacation and want to file a maritime lawsuit, please read your passenger ticket carefully and comply with all of its requirements. If for any reason you have lost your ticket, please request a copy of it immediately from the company and comply with all of its requirements. Better yet, contact us– (305) 642-5000 – and we will help you comply with all the requirements and bring your lawsuit to a successful conclusion.
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