Legal counsel has been
retained by an Italian family
whose four-year old son nearly
drowned while onboard Royal
Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas.
The local firm, which represents
passengers and crew “who have
suffered accidents and crimes
aboard cruise ships,” is accusing
RCI of failing to provide basic pool
safety such as trained lifeguards.
The case has the potential
to be a landmark ruling if any
negligence is found on the part
of Royal Caribbean Int’l, which
could in turn open the floodgates
to future lawsuits against cruise
lines in similar situations.
The child and his family were
evacuated for further treatment
when fellow pax managed to
restore a pulse after the boy was
found underwater in one of the
ship’s pools (CW 06 Jan).
“This is another alarming
example of the dangers
associated with the major cruise
lines failing to employ lifeguards
onboard its cruise ships,” attorney
Michael Winkleman said.
Notes released by the firm
show that while cruise lines must
adhere to strict maritime safety
standards, no industry mandate
requiring trained lifeguards to
supervise pools currently exists.
Oasis of the Seas was barely an
hour out of Port Everglades in
Florida on a seven-night cruise to
the Western Caribbean when the
near-drowning incident occurred.
A number of similar cases of
a passenger drowning or nearly
drowning in an onboard pool
have occurred in recent years,
including on Sapphire Princess,
Norwegian Breakaway and Disney
Fantasy last year and Carnival
ships Victory and Elation in 2013.
The legal firm say these and
other incidents could “have been
easily prevented had a lifeguard
been present”
