Castaway sues Princess Cruises over rescue failure

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: BBC

A Panamanian fisherman who survived 28 days adrift in the Pacific and watched two companions die is suing the owners of a cruise ship that sailed past.

Adrian Vasquez has filed a lawsuit in Florida alleging negligence by Princess Cruises, his lawyer said.

The American cruise company has said it deeply regrets that one of its ships sailed past the dying men.

Passengers said they spotted the castaways and alerted staff, but the firm said the captain was not informed.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-18055087

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I'd imagine the relatives of the dead men would have an even better case.

[longship]

1. R&K

[secondwind]

2. The captain was not informed.... I wonder if that is true....

[Kalidurga]

3. Not likely

it is more likely it is a cover-up. The crew is no way going to leave themselves open to discipline by not telling the captain.

[obamanut2012]

4. I was wondering that, too

[enlightenment]

5. If the captain was informed, I suspect that buried somewhere in the

rules and regulations is the written or unwritten threat that a captain will lose his job if he deviates from or causes a delay in the normal operation of a cruise.

At least I'd like to believe that it was fear, rather than a callous disregard for life, that prompted such inaction.

[yesphan]

6. If this is the case then

the rules themselves are based on a "callous disregard for life".
Somebody's gonna pay.

[AtheistCrusader]

7. Even if unable to render assistance himself, he could have called in help.

Shit, if I was the captain, I'd have done it not just because i'm a human being, but on the business side of the equation, the guests would have an amazing story to tell, and that cruise would become a major memory in their lives, the name of the cruise line would get free positive press and thus, free advertising, etc.

There is zero downside to doing it, even if the three human lives on the line aren't justification enough for you.

[enlightenment]

11. I'm going to assume that 'you'

in the last sentence means 'people in general' rather than me in particular, because if that's what you got out of what I wrote, my writing skills have apparently hit rock bottom.

I was tossing out an idea - based on nothing but my thoughts - and commented that I hoped it was something other than the captain being a callous arse. That's all.

[AtheistCrusader]

12. No, no not YOU.

Sorry, that was a general 'anyone'.

If your suspicion about top-down pressure and fear was the situation for the Captain, and I were in his place, I would make exactly the case I just stated to my superiors. If they didn't like it, fine, I'd find another job.

There is no rational downside to helping, because benefits will come with it. One phone call to a major media outlet would ensure that.


I am sorry that sounded like I was attacking you, I did NOT mean it that way.

[Recursion]

9. If the captain let discipline slide so far that he wasn't told of a sighting, he's still responsible

That's the thing about being the Captain: even when it's not your fault, it's your fault.

[Posteritatis]

13. Numerous passengers saw the boat and informed the crew, going by the earlier stories. (nt)

[Courtesy Flush]

8. Commercial vessels often turn a blind eye

I'm a recreational sailor. No offshore experience, but sailors tend to read accounts of real-life sea adventures ("Adrift" is a good example). Nearly all stories of survivors at sea tell the same story of ships passing, not seeing flares or other signals. If they see you, they're obligated to rescue you, and they'll lose money by putting themselves behind schedule.

In all fairness, those who get rescued quickly don't have a marketable story, so I don't want to accuse all ship captains of negligence.

[slackmaster]

10. Wow, what a horrible experience