An 18-year-old Panamanian fisherman who survived 28 days adrift at sea is suing Princess Cruise Lines, arguing that the cruise ship whose crew members saw him stranded should have stopped and saved him. The behavior of crew members of the Star Princess was outrageous, shocking, atrocious and utterly intolerable in a civilized community. Even though crew members "had clear knowledge that people were stranded in an open boat hundreds of miles from shore in the Pacific Ocean and desperately calling for help," the lawsuit says, "they consciously ignored the emergency situation," R. Dickman, a lawyer for Vasquez, said, "The cruise ship's crew didn't want to get off schedule... and lose money."
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700 Characters Not Enough
ecigarettes 1 year 5 days 17 hours 50 min ago
(I had to take out too much information to make the 700 character limit in posting the article. Here's a slightly longer version without all the confusing, word-removing edits.)
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An 18-year-old Panamanian fisherman who survived 28 days adrift at sea is suing Princess Cruise Lines, arguing that one of its cruise ships should have stopped and saved him.
A negligence lawsuit filed in Florida last week says the behavior of officers or crew members of the Star Princess was "outrageous and, under the circumstances, so beyond all bounds of decency as to be regarded as shocking, atrocious and utterly intolerable in a civilized community."
Even though crew members "had clear knowledge that people were stranded in an open boat hundreds of miles from shore in the Pacific Ocean and desperately calling for their help," the suit says, "they consciously ignored the emergency situation and did not deviate from their cruise."
The fishing boat, Fifty Cents, had been adrift for 15 days when it crossed paths with the Star Princess on March 10, according to the lawsuit. At the time, all three fishermen aboard were alive.
Later that day, according to the lawsuit, 16-year-old Fernando Osorio died, "having lost all hope as the Star Princess steamed away." Five days later, another fisherman on the broken-down boat, Oropeces Betancourt, 24, died at sea.
Robert Dickman, a lawyer for Vasquez, speculated that one reason the Star Princess did not stop was because the cruise ship's crew didn't want to get off schedule for their next stop in Puntarenas, Costa Rica -- and, thus, lose money.
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So basically what we have is the following situation.
A couple of young adults (16, 18 and 24) get lost a sea. A cruise ship passes, crew members see the stranded seamen, do nothing and ship continues to its next port without giving aid or notifying anyone. The boat remains at sea for another 13 days. During this time both the 16 year old and the 24 year old dies.
If the 18 year old would have dies too, we would not have a story. Unfortunately for the Star Princess, he lives and reports the incident to the press.
Did they have an obligation to help these young adults survive or did they have a duty to protect share holder profit and to continue to the next port without delay?