Royal Caribbean staff captain files suit after prolonged toxic gas exposure

A former staff captain aboard the Royal Caribbean Monarch of the Seas has filed a lawsuit against the company for continuing to operate the cruise ship even after three workers had died from exposure to toxic gas fumes.

An MRI revealed that Bjoern Eidissen’s brain has lesions commonly associated with long term gas exposure injury.

The suit alleges that RCCL forced him and others to work in an unsafe environment with hydrogen sulfide fumes that came from improperly vented ballast tanks jury rigged by fire hoses that directed the gas into the air conditioning system, endangering the health of passengers and crew.

Three workers died and several others were injured when a cloud of gas escaped during an operation to fix the tank piping while at the dock in Los Angeles in September, 2005.

Yet, the vessel continued operations for several months until repairs were completed, putting the lives of tens of thousands on subsequent cruises at risk, the suit alleges.

Though RCCL admitted responsibility for the toxic leak, it denies fault for Eidissen’s injury, saying he did not wear protective equipment and delayed his own medical treatment.

Eidissen seeks punitive damages.

SourceL E Turbo News.com