Cruise ships are busy places, and there are usually a lot of people in high spirits onboard. As usual in those kinds of situations, accidents can and do happen – and people sometimes end up going overboard.
Unfortunately, the odds of survival once someone goes overboard are slim. Here’s why:
1. There’s often alcohol involved
Cruise ships are meant for relaxation and fun, but guests are sometimes drastically over-served at the ship’s bars. That can lead to impulsive acts and poor decisions that can cause someone to go overboard – and their level of intoxication can make survival harder since they might not have their wits about them.
2. A fall overboard is often unobserved
If someone happens to fall overboard right in front of a group of people, the alarm might be sounded pretty quickly. If someone falls while they’re alone, however, the cruise ship could be miles away before anybody knows that they’re missing.
3. It can take a long time to find someone in the water
Even when the fall is witnessed, finding someone in the vast ocean waters can be very hard – especially at night. Plus, it can take a significant amount of time for a cruise ship to stop or turn around, and the ocean waters are cold. Hypothermia and shock can settle in, and someone who has fallen overboard can easily tire and drown before they can be rescued.
If your loved one was killed in a fall from a cruise ship, it can be incredibly hard to move forward without the compensation you need to ensure your family’s financial stability. If you believe that the cruise ship was somehow negligent in its actions when the incident happened, find out more about what it takes to file a wrongful death claim.