Tag: lawsuit

18-year-old survived 28 days adrift but his two crewmates died after their boat was ignored A Panamanian man who watched his two companions die while surviving adrift at sea for 28 days in their small boat has sued a US cruise line because one of its ships failed to help, his attorney said on Sunday.Attorney Edna Ramos said the lawsuit alleging negligence by Princess Cruise Lines was filed in a Florida state court on behalf of Adrian Vazquez.The 18-year-old and his companions - Fernando Osorio, 16, and Elvis Oropeza, 31 - set off for a night of fishing on 24 February from Rio Hato, a small fishing and farming town on Panama's Pacific coast. The boat's motor broke down on the way back and the men drifted at sea for 16 days before seeing a cruise ship approach on 10 March.Vazquez has said the men signalled for help, but the ship did not stop.Princess Cruises has said passengers never told the ship's captain they saw a boat.Osorio and Oropeza died later. Vazquez was rescued on 22 March near Ecuador's Galapagos Islands, more than 600 miles from where they had set out.Ramos said the lawsuit includes testimony from two cruise ship ...

Lawsuit on behalf of four on-board musician victims of the Costa Concordia shipwreck Attorneys file a lawsuit on behalf of four on-board musician victims of the Costa Concordia shipwreckA $US200 million ($A199.45 million) lawsuit has been filed in New York federal court on behalf of four Hungarian musicians and dancers aboard the Costa Concordia cruise ship that capsized off the coast of Italy in January, reports Sky News Australia.The lawsuit filed says the ensemble lost one of their members during the accident. Violinist Sandor Feher drowned while trying to help children put on life jackets.The lawsuit says the performers are unable to work after suffering physical and emotional injuries.Another lawsuit filed in Miami is seeking more than $US500 million in damages on behalf of dozens of plaintiffs.Source: MarineLink

They say dispensed drugs to the pilot of the Cosco Busan The owners and operators of a container ship that slammed into the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in 2007 and spilled thousands of gallons of oil into San Francisco Bay have sued the Northern California pharmacists they claim negligently dispensed prescription drugs to the pilot of the Cosco Busan.The ship's owner, Regal Stone Ltd., and operator Fleet Management Ltd. Alleged in court papers filed in San Francisco Superior Court Friday that the pills "recklessly" provided by pharmacists at a Longs drug store in Petaluma, Calif. had so clouded pilot John Cota's judgment and dulled his reflexes that they led to the crash.The container ship spilled more than 50,000 gallons of oil into the bay after it collided with a bridge tower. The fuel traveled to beaches north and south of San Francisco, and biologists have blamed the spill for the deaths of more than 2,400 birds.Michael DeAngelis, a spokesman for Rhode Island-based CVS Caremark, which owns Longs, said Wednesday that the company thinks Longs has no liability in the accident and plans to fight the lawsuit.Last year, Regal Stone and Fleet Management agreed to pay $4.4 million in damages to ...

Crew claims that Maersk ignored the piracy warning for Maersk Alabama Eleven employees claim in court that Maersk Line ignored warnings about Somali pirates and sailed too close to the Somali coast, where pirates kidnapped the crew.The eleven crewmembers sued Maersk Line and Waterman Steamship Corp., in three complaints in Mobile County Court.They claim they were aboard the Maersk Alabama, a container vessel owned by Maersk and Waterman, with a crew of 20, when on April 6, 2009, the defendants received warning to sail at least 600 miles off the coast of Somalia, to avoid pirates who were attacking ships in the area.But the men say Maersk and Waterman ignored the warnings and sent their ship within 250 miles of the Somali coast.Somali pirates attacked and boarded the Maersk Alabama on April 8, took several crewmembers hostage and caused them permanent physical and emotional injuries, according to the identical complaints.Four pirates seized the ship 240 nautical miles southeast of the Somali port of Eyl. U.S. troops rescued the captain and several crewmembers on April 12, after a 3-day stand-off.The men say Maersk and Waterman sacrificed their employees' safety for financial gain."Defendants knowingly, intentionally and willfully sent their employees, including plaintiffs, ...

New lawsuit re an oil leak discovered on March 4 in Chevron's offshore Frade field A Brazilian federal prosecutor on Tuesday launched his second 20 billion real ($10.9 billion) lawsuit against U.S. oil company Chevron and driller Transocean, doubling the stakes against the companies as critics call him as overzealous.The new lawsuit, the prosecutor's second civil case against the companies in less than five months, is related to an oil leak discovered on March 4 in Chevron's offshore Frade field northeast of Rio de Janeiro, the Federal Public Prosecutor's office said in an email.The new lawsuit, filed in federal court in Campos, north of Rio de Janeiro, also seeks to prevent Chevron and Transocean from operating in Brazil, transferring Brazilian profits overseas, obtaining government-backed finance and moving equipment from the country, the statement said."The second leak is as serious or more serious than the first, so the damages have to be in the same category," Santos de Oliveira told Reuters. "While they are not a simple mathematical calculation, they are not symbolic either."Chevron and Transocean's activities may have damaged the Frade reservoir, making it impossible to produce from the field, denying Brazil its right to royalties on a public resource, ...

Chevron Oil Spill update Brazil's largest oil workers union filed a lawsuit against U.S. oil company Chevron and drilling firm Transocean that seeks to cancel their rights to operate in the country as the result of an offshore oil spill last November.The case, brought by the FUP oil workers federation in Brazilian federal court, raises the legal and political stakes for Chevron and Transocean which are already fighting criminal and civil cases related to the spill.FUP, which has long opposed foreign involvement in Brazilian oil development, said Chevron and Transocean "offended the Brazilian people" with "predatory and environmentally unsound practices."FUP wants the court to force Chevron to give up a field that has cost about $2 billion in investment and was producing up to 80,000 barrels a day of oil. It also seeks unspecified financial damages for the Brazilian people.In addition to the Sedco 706 drill platform working for Chevron, Transocean has nine other billion-dollar-plus rigs working in Brazil. Each earns hundreds of thousands of dollars a day in lease fees."Chevron lied to the Brazilian state," Joao Antonio Moraes, FUP's legal coordinator, told Reuters."We're seeking the cancellation of their concession in the field where their operations have shown to be ...

BP settles lawsuit with thousands of individuals affected by the Gulf of Mexico

Settlement could be announced this week BP Plc is seeking to settle a lawsuit over the massive 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill by tapping into a $14 billion fund it set aside to compensate fishermen and businesses harmed by the disaster, lawyers familiar with the talks said. In exchange, the claimants, represented by a group called the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee, would drop their lawsuit in a court case scheduled to start in New Orleans on March 5.U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier delayed the trial by a week on Sunday to allow talks between BP and the PSC, which represents fishermen, oystermen, hoteliers and restaurateurs who say their livelihoods were damaged by the April 20, 2010, explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and subsequent oil spill.The settlement would tap the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF), a $20 billion fund BP set up in August 2010 to compensate victims. The fund, overseen by Kenneth Feinberg, has already paid out about $6.1 billion to compensate about 200,000 individuals and businesses, leaving about $14 billion in available funds."The discussions are ongoing," said Brent Coon, a Houston lawyer who represents about 8,000 clients who have filed claims with the Gulf Coast Claims Facility. ...

Trial will start next week A federal judge ruled Wednesday that BP PLC and one of its minority partners in the blown-out Macondo well are liable for civil penalties under the Clean Water Act for their roles in the nation's worst offshore oil spill.U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier also ruled that Deepwater Horizon rig owner Transocean Ltd. may be liable under the same law as an "operator" of the well. The judge, however, said he couldn't decide before a trial scheduled to start Feb. 27 whether Transocean meets the definition of that term.The Justice Department argued that BP, minority partner Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Transocean are each liable for per-barrel civil penalties for oil discharged from the well.Barbier rejected Anadarko's argument that oil discharged from Transocean's rig, not the well."Pressure within the earth drove hydrocarbons up the Macondo Well, through the (blowout preventer), and finally out the riser," the judge wrote. "Thus, the uncontrolled movement of oil began in the well. The riser and (blowout preventer), by contrast, were merely passive conduits through which oil flowed."Barbier also ruled that BP and Anadarko - but not Transocean - are "responsible parties" under the Oil Pollution Act for oil that flowed from ...

Costa concordia survivors ask for at least $528 million in damages Dozens of additional survivors of the Costa Concordia shipwreck off Italy have joined a Florida lawsuit that accuses the ship's owners of gross negligence and fraud, and asks for at least $528 million in damages.An amended lawsuit was filed on Tuesday in the state circuit court in Miami against Carnival Corp, which is incorporated in Panama and headquartered in Miami, and several of its subsidiaries, including Florida-based Costa Cruise Lines and Costa Crociere, which is based in Italy and operated the ill-fated ship.Thirty-three more surviving passengers were added to the six in the original lawsuit filed in January, bringing the total number of plaintiffs to 39.Carnival declined to comment, saying it does not typically comment on litigation matters.The lawsuit alleges that the company acted with gross negligence and careless disregard during the cruise that ended on Jan. 13 when the Costa Concordia hit a reef and capsized off the coast of Italy. The ship carried 4,200 passengers and crew; 17 are known dead and 15 are missing.The suit alleges that the crew failed to conduct safety drills, that the ship was off course when it hit the reef, that ...