Legal action against Princess Cruises for Grand Princess and Crown Princess cruise ship accidents

Leading travel litigation lawyers Irwin Mitchell announced today that it is taking legal action against the travel company Princess Cruises on behalf of British passengers injured aboard the cruise ship Crown Princess. Princess Cruises have admitted that a sudden tilt by the ship, which resulted in many passengers requiring hospital treatment, was caused by "Human error".

240 passengers suffered injury when the 113,000 ton liner suddenly tilted towards its starboard side whilst travelling off the coast of Florida last month.

According to reports the tilt caused swimming pools onboard to empty, overturned large slot machines and exercise machines in the spa, and sent passengers hurtling through windows. 116 passengers required treatment in 7 local hospitals onshore. Some of the passengers described the aftermath on board ship resembling "a war zone', with a number of seriously injured passengers.

Reports by an Orlando television station, WESH, alleged that the ship's automatic pilot started making a left turn, an officer on the bridge "panicked" taking the ship out of automatic pilot. The junior officer then accidentally put the ship in an even sharper turn causing an estimated 15 to 18 degree list.

Grand Princess and Crown Princess cruises

The Crown Princess was on only its 4th voyage when the incident occurred following its launch on 14 June 2006.

Clive Garner, Head of International Travel Litigation at Irwin Mitchell Solicitors said "We are acting for passengers and are working with colleagues in the US to co-ordinate claims. Whilst Princess Cruises have apologised and confirmed that appropriate personnel changes have been made, this is likely to be of little consolation to the hundreds of passengers affected.

"It is clearly of great concern that an incident like this on board such a large apparently state of the art liner could occur at all. We understand that a similar incident occurred in February 2006 on board the Grand Princess, the sister ship of the Crown princess, when 27 passengers were injured. To have 2 such incidents so close in time is highly unfortunate and may point to wider issues about safety. "

Crown Princess passengers affected should contact Irwin Mitchell immediately

"I am interested in making contact with any passengers who were on board the Crown Princess at the time of the accident. I would also urge any passengers affected by this incident to seek expert legal advice before accepting any form of compensation from Princess Cruises as each case will need to be reviewed on its own facts and every claim carefully and individually valued. "

If you have been affected by the incidents involving the Crown Princess cruise ship, our solicitors can help with a claim for compensation. Visit our cruise injury claim section.