Injured Cruise Passengers File Suit over Cruise Liner Incident

By Thomas Hall

Published on December 21, 2007

The incident occurred 11 miles off the coast of Port Canaveral, Florida, where the cruise ship had earlier departed on a trip to the Caribbean. More than 250 passengers and 50 crew members were injured when the ship took a dramatic 16 to 18 degree tilt, emptying the swimming pools and crashing people and objects into each other.

The National Transportation Safety Board says that the ship's second officer turned the ship from port to starboard several times, which may have caused the vessel to significantly heel to the starboard. The officer allegedly told the NTSB he took the ship off auto-pilot and mistakenly steered it in the wrong direction after becoming concerned about the speed of a turn.

Some passengers in cabins at the time say the listing was so severe they could see water rising above the windows.

The cruise ship returned to Port Canaveral after the incident.

The NTSB's final report on the cause of the accident will be released in the near future.

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