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A newspaper in the Bahamas recently covered the news regarding Miami federal district judge Patricia Seitz threatening to temporarily ban Carnival-owned cruise ships from calling on U.S. ports. The Tribune newspaper in Nassau points out that Carnival is building what it describes as a $100-million mega cruise port in Grand Bahama, and the company “promised it would not hurt the island’s fragile environment.” Carnival is reportedly leasing 329 acres of Bahamian land in an area…
The was a fire yesterday on the Emerald Princess shortly after it was floated out of drydock in Victoria, according to a crew member who wishes to remain anonymous. The fire reportedly occurred on deck 3 aft, while the ship was loading lifeboats from drydock in Victoria. The situation was described as “very hectic because many crew members were on the lifeboat loading team and were not available to be on the fire team to…
Calling Carnival Corporation a “criminal defendant,” United States Federal District Judge Patricia Seitz threatened to send the  “members of Carnival’s executive committee” to a “detention center for a couple of days” for violation of the terms of its probation for environmental crimes, according to the Miami Herald.  The newspaper also reported that the Court at a hearing yesterday threatened to temporarily block cruise ships operated by Carnival Corporation from calling on U.S. ports. In…
Yesterday, Senator Deb Fisher (R-Neb.) introduced legislation to amend the Death on the High Seas Act (“DOHSA”) to provide a basis for compensation for the pain, suffering and other emotional losses suffered by the surviving family members of loved ones killed at sea. “Hammer’s Law” is a bill named for Larry and Christy Hammer of Omaha, Nebraska who tragically lost their lives in a fire in their cabin onboard a Peruvian river cruise on April 10,…
Today, the Miami News Times published an article titled: Sexual Assault Is the Most Publicly Reported Crime on Cruises, but Companies Say It’s Rare. Written by Meg O’Connor, the article begins by reporting on a sexual assault committed against a nineteen-year-old passenger by a fitness instructor on the Celebrity Summit while docked in Bermuda. The crew member was employed by a Celebrity Cruises concessionaire, Canyon Ranch. The instructor was identified in the lawsuit papers as Carlos…
Silver Spirit
Silver Spirit Flunks USPH Inspection
Silversea Cruises’ Silver Spirit cruise ship recently failed a sanitation inspection by United States Public Health (USPH) inspectors, in February. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently published its official report for the inspection. On February 15, 2019, USPH sanitation inspectors conducted an inspection of the the Silver Spirit cruise ship and gave the cruise ship, operated by Silversea Cruises, a failing score of 81. You can locate the report here. You can locate the corrected…
It seems that after an elevator malfunctioned on the Carnival Inspiration last weekend, with five guests inside, Carnival handled the situation poorly according to the comments posted on Facebook online.  A reader of Cruise Law News sent this link to me today: The Carnival officers who eventually responded appeared to be disinterested in the situation and allegedly either blamed the young men and/or told them “not to touch anything”. . . One of the…
Singapore will soon be implementing the 1996 Protocol to the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims of 1976 (as amended in 2012 and effective from 2015), following the passing of the Merchant Shipping (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill. With the passing of the Bill, Singapore’s limitation of liability regime for maritime claims will be aligned with leading maritime jurisdictions such as England and Hong Kong, which have acceded to the 1996 Protocol as revised with…
Oasis of the Seas
Oasis of the Seas in Drydock at the Grand Bahamas Shipyard
An accident involving the collapse of several large cranes reportedly occurred this afternoon at the Grand Bahamas shipyard in Freeport, Bahamas involving the Oasis of the Seas, resulting in the injury of several shipyard workers. Video was taken after the accident of the Royal Caribbean cruise ship and surrounding dock.  The cruise ship was in dry dock for refurbishment at the shipyard in Freeport. A newspaper in the Bahamas, the Tribune, reported on the…
Sources report that Norwegian Cruise Line will implement keelhauling as a means to motivate crew members to work longer hours on NCL cruise ships. The ancient maritime form of punishment, once meted out to sailors at sea, involves being tied to a line and pulled along the keel, either from one side of the ship to the other, or under the keel from bow to stern. It dates back to the ancient Rhodian Maritime Code (around…

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