Alabama Injury Attorneys Blog

What should have been a wonderful vacation along the Tuscan coastline turned into a nightmare for cruise patrons and families involved in the tragic cruise line accident on January 13, 2012.

Early reports indicate the cruise ship's captain, Francesco Schettino, 52, navigated off course to show off the $450 million vessel when he ran the ship aground. After ripping a hole in the ship's hull, Capt. Schettino, apparently left the vessel and fled in a lifeboat leaving panicked crewmembers and passengers to franticly evacuate the ship, evoking images of the Titanic.

There were roughly 4,200 people on board the Costa Concordia when the ship ran aground. Of the 4,200 people over 3,200 were passengers with the remaining 1,000 serving as crewmembers. Remarkably, the majority of the passengers were able to evacuate the ship. However, boating accident.

In the weeks and months following the cruise line accident, families and passengers will begin to pickup the pieces of their lives and to seek recovery for their losses- ranging from the loss of life to the loss of possessions. One website, Cruise Critic, is already reporting a class action lawsuit among 70 passengers for the tragic boating accident. Undoubtedly, more personal injury lawsuits and wrongful death cases will follow. The question will become who is liable for the boating accident and did passengers waive any rights when they purchased their ticket and boarded the ship. Depending on the wording in the cruise line's fine print, injured passengers could be placed at a significant disadvantage, leaving the company fully protected.