The following article was pulled off of the web today. It is especially of interest to us here at Hickey Law Firm, P.A. because we a maritime/cruise ship injury law firm located in the cruise ship capital of the world, Miami, Florida. We are in fact currently representing a crew member in his claim against Royal Caribbean Cruise Line for injuries when a life boat released in mid air some 90 feet above the sea. The boat fell with 7 men aboard. The lifeboat crashed onto the sea and was cracked from stem to stern. Some of the people onboard suffered severe injuries. To make matters worse: the same type of failure of a lifeboat release had happened on a Royal Caribbean ship a year before.

Unfortunately, injuries do happen on cruise ships. We represent passengers and crew members in their claims against the cruise lines. Our offices are here in Miami, Florida, right where the cruise lines in your ticket require you to file a claim against them in Court. We can and will represent you no matter where you live. In fact, you are required to file suit against the cruise lines in the place where the ticket requires. That is called a venue selection clause. (For Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruise Lines, and Norwegian Cruise Lines, the place they require is Miami, Florida). So, call us today toll free at: 1.800.215.7117.

If you have had an accident on a cruise ship or on the tender or boat which takes you to and from shore, do not delay; the time limit, called a statute of limitation, is one year from the date of the accident. The only way to beat that is to file suit in the place required in your ticket. Here is the article:

Lifeboat hooks not fit for purpose - Worldwide
The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), through a recently published Marine Information Notice (MIN), recommends that a system should be introduced whereby maintenance shackles are rigged to by-pass lifeboat on-load release hooks during the lowering and recovery stages of lifeboat drills.

Marine Information Notice (MIN) 315 published December 2007describes MCA research project 555 which is a study into the safety of davit-mounted, side launched ships’ lifeboats and their launching systems. The primary objective of the study was to make proposals for measures to improve the hardware performance of lifeboats and contribute to the prevention of accidents.

The project found that:

All on-load release hooks should be designed and constructed to be stable, i.e. self-closing, when supporting the weight of the lifeboat
A safety case regime should be introduced specifically (and only) for lifeboat on-load release hooks, so as to achieve this aim
The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea should be amended to include both this safety case requirement and additional safe design requirements for lifeboat launching equipment
An interim measure of by-passing on-load release hooks during drills should be considered.
Notwithstanding the contributory factors noted in the IMO Circulars, this study has found that many existing on-load release hooks, whilst satisfying the current regulations, may be inherently unsafe and therefore not fit for purpose.

This situation arises because some designs of on-load hook can be described as unstable, in that they have a tendency to open under the effect of the lifeboat’s own weight and need to be held closed by the operating mechanism. As a result, there is no defence against defects or faults in the operating mechanism, or errors by the crew, or incorrect resetting of the hook after being released.

The research project concluded that this was the principal reason for almost all of the more serious accidents that have occurred. Furthermore, it considered that the solution lies not in training or maintenance, but in radical re-design of the hook types involved. Improved maintenance, whilst desirable, is unlikely to be a sufficiently effective risk reduction measure because of the harsh operating environment and dwindling levels of skilled resource on board a ship.

Improved training is similarly unlikely to be a sufficiently effective measure. This is because human error is inevitable, particularly under the difficult working conditions (time pressures, language barriers, fatigue, cold, dark, wet, etc) which typically prevail on board. Given the reality of this context, it is entirely inappropriate for a safety critical system (i.e. an unstable design of on-load hook) to be catastrophically susceptible to single human error.

Unstable designs of on-load release hook are to be identified with the intention that they be withdrawn from service on all ships and replaced with stable designs. The necessary development of new hooks should be undertaken urgently and the transition made at the earliest possible time.

In view of the serious nature of the hazard, only as an interim risk reduction measure to avoid further unnecessary fatalities during mandatory lifeboat tests and trials, a system should be introduced whereby maintenance shackles are rigged to by-pass the on-load release hook during lowering and recovery, but are disconnected at all other times.

Noting the difficulties with on-load release for twin fall launching systems, consideration should be given to adoption of single fall capsules for ships carrying small numbers of persons.

Source: UK P&I Club,

Maritime & Coast Guard Agency