Bad News Continues for Carnival – Read About Recent Accidents and Injuries

When you purchase your ticket for a cruise vacation on one of Carnival’s ships, you picture drinks next to the pool, fantastic entertainment and great food. You don’t imagine yourself getting tossed around the boat because of a sharp turn made by the vessel or being jolted because the ship slams into a gangway. The risk of a fire is also the last thing on your mind, but the harsh reality is that these events have occurred on Carnival cruise ships.

Here is a brief summary of some of the Carnival cruise ship accidents and injuries over the years:

• April 2010 – On Wednesday, April 21, 2010, sixty passengers were hurt on Carnival’s ship, Ecstasy, when it made a sharp turn to avoid a collision with a buoy. The buoy was located off the coast of Mexico and had gone undetected by the ship’s radar. Passengers were not warned ahead of time, which resulted in many people being tossed around the ship.

• February 2010 – Carnival’s Ecstasy ship hit a passenger gangway at the Texas Cruise Ship Terminal at Pier 25. The collision was so great that it knocked the structure out of commission. The Texas cruise ship accident damaged the gangway when the rear of the ship hit and pushed it approximately 15 feet along the wharf and about 3 feet toward the terminal.

• June 2009 – Two passengers on Carnival ships went overboard within days of each other. One of the incidents occurred near Tampa, Florida, when a man fell after attempting to get a better view of the scenery. He was found clinging to a buoy. The other incident involved a 50-year-old woman who went overboard while traveling on the Carnival ship, Holiday. She was never found. Carnival appeared to be involved in a high number of “people falling overboard” cases in 2009, but the cruise line denied that its ships were more dangerous than others.

• July 1998 – The Ecstasy caught fire as it left port in July 1998, causing multiple injuries and millions of dollars in damages. An investigation found that unauthorized welding on laundry room equipment ignited the fire. At the time of the cruise ship fire, there were 2,565 passengers and 916 crewmembers onboard. The ship was left adrift several miles from Miami. Rescue crews were eventually able to extinguish the flames and tow the ship back to port.

If you have been injured in a Carnival cruise ship accident, you could be entitled to compensation. To find out your rights as an injured passenger, contact an experienced cruise ship lawyer at the Law Offices of Vujasinovic & Beckcom P.L.L.C. at 713.224.7800 or 877.724.7800.