Cruise ship injuries

A cruise ship accident lawyer needs to know that typical maritime law does not always apply to cruise ship accidents. Often, cruise lines have certain provisions in their passenger tickets (which are authorized by United States federal statutes) which change (and often shorten) the time in which an injured passenger may file a lawsuit. Although the usual statute of limitations for maritime cases is three years, these provisions often shorten the time to one year. Moreover, cruise ship lines also have forum selection clauses, which mandate that they can only be sued in a certain place (often Miami, Florida).

Another trick they use is to have the ship registered in a foreign country while flying a foreign flag. As such, typical United Sates maritime law may not be applicable. Various international treaties signed by the United States and the "flagged country" may need to be considered.

Once you are on a cruise ship, you are pretty much stuck there. As such, vacationers on cruise ships must truly place their trust in the company. As such, the cruise ship operators must provide security to the passengers to protect them from operators of the ships, as they have few means to leave the ship once a cruise starts. Because of this, cruise lines must be diligent in providing security to passengers to protect them from other vacationers and from assaults by crew members.

If you are injured on a cruise ship, here are some things to remember:

1. Make a written report to the ships’ security department. Make sure you get a copy.

2. Get treatment from the ship’s doctor or medical staff.

3. Go to the shore side doctor at the next stop. If the matter is serious, see your doctor when you get home. Cruise ship doctors are not the best in the world.

4. Take photographs or video of the accident scene.

5. Get the name and contact information of all witnesses and cruise line personnel that have knowledge of the accident.

Contact Texas cruise ship accident attorney Scott Nelson if you or a loved one has been injured in a cruise ship accident. Serving Galveston, Houston, San Antonio, Brownsville, Corpus Christi and all of Texas.