Lipcon’s own maritime lawyer Michael Winkleman has been featured on the Fox News show “Varney & Company,” offering his legal expertise on Carnival’s latest announcement that the company will be spending millions on improving safety features and the many maritime law violations the cruise line continues to commit.
Carnival broke the news that it would be investing up to $700 million to improve various shipboard safety features, including upgrading emergency power and fire systems, electrical components and hotel services after the much publicized Triumph cruise ship fire left over 4,000 people stranded in the Gulf of Mexico for five days without any power, working toilets or sufficient food provisions. Passengers recounted nightmarish stories of having to slosh through overflowing waste and sewage, which put the travelers at risk for contracting serious – if not fatal – illnesses.
Attorney Winkleman explained on the show that our firm has filed a Class Action lawsuit on behalf of Triumph passengers for the suffering they had to endure over Carnival’s failure to maintain a safe environment for all who board their vessels – a requirement of maritime law for all cruise companies.
When asked by the show’s host, Stuart Varney, if the millions that will be (allegedly) spent by Carnival on fleet-wide improvements can be regarded as a kind of win for victims and for our lawyers, Mr. Winkleman responded that Carnival’s safety improvement project may be seen as an “implicit admission that their entire fleet needed upgrading,” but it in no way is a victory for Triumph passengers, who still had to endure the dire conditions onboard the vessel
Mr. Winkleman went on to explain that it’s going to be a long battle for Triumph passengers to obtain the compensation they truly deserve, and that’s largely in part to the many “legal maneuvers Carnival takes to avoid responsibility when things go wrong.”
And while Carnival may be making headlines for its mega investment in safety upgrades, the $700 million project comes with a price – a price paid by crew members who are subjected to terrible shipboard conditions, mistreatment and who are forced to go into foreign arbitration, reducing safety onboard vessels.
Watch the clip here: Maritime Attorney Michael Winkleman on Varney & Company
