Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"

[MuffyBee]

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Beaumont-man-sues-after-entire-staff-stuck-on-4728860.php?cmpid=rrhoustontx
Beaumont man sues after entire staff stuck on Carnival cruise
August 13, 2013

 Beaumont eye care business and a group of cruise ship passengers have filed separate lawsuits against Carnival Cruise Lines in connection with the ill-fated Carnival Triumph voyage in February.

Dr. Peter Cass, who owns and operates Beaumont Family Eye Care, filed a lawsuit Aug. 8 to recoup losses to his business stemming from the cruise ship's problems.

Three days after leaving Galveston on Feb. 7 for Mexico, a fire ignited in the Triumph's engine room, disabling the vessel's propulsion system and knocking out power. The cruise ship drifted for days in the Gulf of Mexico before it was towed to Mobile, Ala., on Feb. 14.

Cass took his entire staff on a cruise aboard Carnival Triumph, and suffered economic losses due to the five-day delay in getting the employees back to reopen the business.

"This is purely an economic loss claim," said Beaumont attorney Matthew C. Matheny, who represents the eye center. "Dr. Cass actually took his entire office on a paid vacation, including some of their spouses. They were stranded out there and had to shut down the business for more than a week."

Cass also chartered a bus to get his staffers back to work, and sustained additional expenses with contract labor, Matheny said.

The lawsuit alleges that the cruise line was aware of the mechanical problems aboard the ship and failed to maintain the vessel "in a reasonable and safe manner to prevent a fire in the engine room." The cruise line also failed warn passengers of the danger, the lawsuit states.

In a separate lawsuit also filed Aug. 8, some passengers who were aboard the Triumph claim that they exposed to urine and feces and the odors of raw sewage that leaked through the ceilings, walls and floors.

The federal lawsuit also alleges that passengers were exposed to extreme heat and cold temperatures and had to wait in long lines to get water and food.

The lawsuit, filed by Beaumont attorney T. Roebuck, alleges that Carnival was negligent for failing to maintain the vessel in a reasonable and safe manner, for failing to hire and supervise competent management, and for failing to provide sanitary accommodations, adequate food and drinking water, and ventilation.

The lawsuit seeks an award of damages for discomfort, medical expenses, mental anguish and lost earnings, and out-of-pocket expenses.
 


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[MuffyBee]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/17/travel/carnival-cruise-triumph-problems/
CNN Exclusive: Documents show ill-fated Triumph cruise ship set sail with issues
December 17, 2013

 

More than 4,000 passengers and crew members were stranded aboard what's now known as the "poop cruise" after a fire knocked out the ship's power. The ship drifted four days before it could be towed into Mobile, Alabama -- the whole time without air conditioning, and largely without lights, water, food and working toilets.
CNN has learned that the crew of the Triumph set sail in February with only four of six generators fully operational, knowing that the company had an ongoing generator fire hazard in ships across its fleet, including Triumph.
Houston attorney Frank Spagnoletti represents the Rodriguez family and several dozen other passengers from the ill-fated Carnival Triumph who have filed suit against Carnival Cruise Lines.
"That ship never should have set sail in February," Spagnoletti said. "It was unseaworthy at the commencement of the voyage. These documents tell you that the company -- and I'm saying to you the corporation back in Miami -- had knowledge of the fact that this vessel had a propensity for fires; that there were things that could have been, should have been, and weren't done in order to make sure that fires didn't take place."
The first trouble with Triumph was in diesel generator No. 6 -- the one that wound up catching fire. Starting more than a year before the infamous cruise, that generator was overdue for maintenance, often not in compliance with the safety laws of the sea, known as SOLAS, according to the ship's engineer.
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[MuffyBee]

http://www.khou.com/news/local/Local-woman-sues-Carnival-Cruise-Lines-I-want-them-to-tell-the-truth-249647111.html
Local woman sues Carnival Cruise Lines: ‘I want them to tell the truth’
March 11, 2014

FRIENDSWOOD, Texas -- Thirty-three people who were aboard the Carnival Triumph last year have sued the cruise line. Debra Oubre of Friendswood is one of them. She said she has not been the same since the ill-fated voyage in February of 2013.
"I get up. I open my door. I literally see in the hallway what looks like a black wall moving towards us," said Oubre.
The ship was crippled by a fire and ended up having no air conditioning, inadequate food supplies and overflowing toilets.
"A lot of us suffered dehydration, myself included,” said Oubre. “I lost weight. I had a urinary tract infection."
She said the emotional fallout has been worse.
“I can’t describe it,” said Oubre. “I feel anxious and the nightmares, not being able to breathe because at night we had overflowing toilets. It was sewage, raw sewage."
She is part of a group asking for damages in a Miami Federal Court. Oubre said she cannot put a number on her pain and suffering.
The Triumph has been dubbed by some of the 3,100 passengers who were on board as “the floating toilet” and “the floating Petri dish.”
Oubre said everyone she saw on board had stomach problems and she wants Carnival to change its practices so that no one ever goes through what she and her group went through.
"I want them to tell the truth, and I want them to be accountable for what they put all of us through,” said Oubre.
The suit is being tried before a judge, not a jury. Federal Judge Donald Graham in Miami could possible make a ruling in a couple of months.
In a pre-trial ruling he called Carnival negligent. Oubre and other plaintiffs see that as a very good indication of how the case may go.
 
Oubre said Carnival refunded the cost of the Triumph cruise, gave passengers $500 and a free future cruise which she has taken.
She reports no problems with that voyage.