This is a truly troubling story.  We originally brought you the story of a 34 year old British man who admitted to having sexually assaulted over a dozen children while working aboard 3 differetn Cunard cruise ships.  At the time he was actually a supervisor of the ship’s daycare at the time.

Paul Trotter of Pontefract, England has been sentenced to prison and will have to register with Britian’s sex offender registry.  He will also be banned from working with children in the future, after serving his four year sentence.

Trotter admitted to molesting a total of 13 children during the time from between 2007 and 2011, when he worked aboard the Queen Mary 2, the Queen Victoria, and the Queen Elizabeth cruise ships, all operated by Cunard, which is owned by Carnival Cruise Lines.   He also admitted to taking and possessing graphic images of some of the children.

The case is especially alarming because somehow Trotter was able to avoid the safeguards put into place by the cruise line to protect against having child predators on the payroll.   Cunard president, and managing director, Peter Shanks, commented on the lapse:

“Paul Trotter was able to avoid detection despite all of our youth staff, including Mr. Trotter, having had their criminal records checked. We have closed circuit TV on board all of our ships, including all of the children’s clubs, and our own rules dictate that a minimum of two members of staff are to be with children at all times.”

Hickey Law Firm, P.A. – Miami Cruise Ship Accident Attorney

Cruise ship injuries and accidents can be serious.  Accidents on cruise ships have caused death, paralysis, brain damage, and significant orthopedic injuries for its passengers and crewmembers.  Medical malpractice caused by the medical staff on cruise ships, now we believe to be a daily occurrence, causes death and significant, permanent injuries.  Accidents on cruise excursions are now a daily occurrence and likewise have resulted in death and catastrophic injuries.

The Costa Concordia is still aground on the rocks of Giglio Island in Italy.  The bodies of the last of the dead passengers, an older couple from the Midwest, were recovered only weeks ago.  And yesterday, Costa Christened it newest ship, the sister ship to the Concordia, the 114,500-ton, 3,000-passenger Costa Fascinosa.  The cruise line executives say that the incident could not happen again apparently relying on some new voluntary measures which they say that they will take.  These measures are the anemic response of the cruise line trade association, CLIA, which was the subject of another one of our blogs.

The response of Costa executives to the Concordia disaster now is limited to a press release in which Costa’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Pier Luigi Foschi, said the company has “bounced back” and that “booking volumes are back to the same levels recorded this time last year.”  “Our share of the market in the main countries where we operate has not been affected. We were, are and will remain number one in Europe,” he stated, adding that Costa’s fleet expansion will continue. Its next new ship is scheduled to launch in fall 2014.

The more things change, the more they remain the same.

Hickey Law Firm, P.A. – Miami Cruise Ship Accident Attorney

The back and forth regarding the cruise business in Charleston, South Carolina, has been going on for years.  There are generally 2 different sides to the matter.  On the one hand there is the government of Charleston, allied with the cruise industry and Charleston groups such as the South Carolina Waterfront Alliance.  On the other side are Charleston citizens’ groups such as the Coastal Conservation League, the Historic Charleston Foundation and the Preservation Society.

In a new op-ed in the Post and Courier, the South Carolina Waterfront Alliance defends the proposed renovation of Union pier, which is, at least in part, opposed by the Charleston citizens’ groups.  The article suggests that the groups are not being fair in their assessment of the proposed benefits of the pier – or in the benefits of the cruise business in Charleston itself.

Saying the citizen’s groups are leveling “beyond bizarre” accusations, the South Carolina Waterfront Alliance calls the cruise business environmentally clean, and says the cruise industry is “well-regulated.”  The op-ed says that the recent economic impact study, called the “Miley” report, released by the citizens’ groups, does not successfully account for the cruise industry’s economic impact in Charleston.

It seems clear that having cruise ships dock at a port will bring some economic impact.   What is far from clear at this point is which side has the better argument, and which will win.

Hickey Law Firm, P.A. – Miami Cruise Ship Accident Attorney