Two Fall Overboard on Cruise Ship–Still Missing

Two Australians fell overboard on the last night of a cruise off the coast of Forster, a large coastal town in Australia.  The couple was discovered to be missing Thursday morning, and then surveillance tape was discovered showing the two falling overboard on Wednesday night.

The man and woman, Paul Rossington and Kristen Schroder, have not been found even after a long and thorough search of 4,670 square kilometers of the sea.  Rossington is a paramedic himself, and with calm and warm waters, the families are still holding out hope that the couple survived.  They were on-board the ship with seven family members and friends.

The safety railing that the couple fell over not only complied with industry regulations, but was 2 inches taller than required.

However, despite having 600 surveillance cameras on the cruise ship that were constantly monitored by employees, the fall went unnoticed.  Cruise officials say it was because on the last night of the cruise, there were too many public areas for the crew to monitor every single camera.

The cruise was operated by Costa, which is a division of Carnival Corporation.  Carnival cruises have been plagued with problems.  Earlier this year, the Carnival cruise ship Triumph lost power after an engine-room fire and was left bobbing in the Gulf of Mexico for 5 days without power, proper sanitation, or enough food.

Last year, 32 people were killed when the Costa Concordia ran aground in Italy.  Also last year, the Costa Allegra lost power in the Indian Ocean and left its passengers stranded for 3 days without air conditioning, running water, or toilets.

These are examples of how cruise ship vacations can go from being a dream to a nightmare in a flash, which seems to be happening more and more often.  Have you been injured in a cruise ship mishap?  We invite you to read the cruise ship information we have here on our website, and then to call the maritime attorneys at Kirkendall Dwyer LLP to discuss your particular case.

 

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