Carnival files BAE lawsuit
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Carnival Corporation, the world’s biggest cruise company, has instigated legal proceedings against BAE systems in Mobile, Alabama, over the incidents which led to its ship, the Carnival Triumph breaking free of its moorings.
Carnival has cited “inadequate and defective mooring structures as being the reason for Triumph coming loose from the pier it was tied to during a thunder storm on 3 April. The ship then drifted into the river hitting “several structures and vessels…resulting in property damage and personal injury”.
The line has also named the window of John Buster Johnson, a BAE employee who reportedly died after being blown into the river on the same night, as a defendant. Carnival has also named Jason Alexander Ewing, another BAE employee injured on the night, as a defendant.
Interestingly both Ewing and Johnson’s widow have already filed separate lawsuits against Carnival, on 29 May. Carnival has also had a case filed against it by Signal’s shipyard which sustained damage during the incident.
The official complaint said: “On April 3, 2013 the Triumph…was moored with its port side along Pier K and its bow facing towards the Mobile River. Numerous mooring lines were in use at both the forward and aft ends of the ship. These lines were tied to the available mooring bollards on the pier, four bollards at the forward end of and four bollards at the aft end. The Triumph was undergoing significant repairs and was completely dependent on shore power and other services provided by BAE, as neither the main nor the emergency generators on the ship was functional. At about 1:30pm., during a rainstorm, four of the bollards on Pier K to which the mooring lines of the Triumph were tied failed and broke free from the pier, three at the aft end and one at the forward end. This in turn placed and increased load on the remaining mooring lines and compromised the integrity of the entire mooring arrangement, causing the Triumph to break free from the pier.”
The problem, Carnival insists, lies in the condition of BAE’s equipment, which was “outdated, severely deteriorated, defective and suitable for mooring the Triumph. The defective and deteriorated board bolts constitute a hidden danger that was not visually apparent.”
A video of Carnival Triumph adrift in the Mobile River is below:
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