On October 28, 2018, the Carnival Sunshine cruise ship tilted sideways, causing tons of damage and giving passengers quite a scare. Now three of those passengers are suing Carnival for injuries suffered during the incident.
Passengers Susan and Charles Orgbon, of Georgia, and Alveta Jordan Armstrong, of North Carolina, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court against Carnival earlier this week claiming that the cruise line was negligent in the operation of the vessel.
The three passengers were in the ship’s Sunrise restaurant when the ship titled. Susan claims she flew from her chair when the boat tilted and injured her spine, while Charles suffered a wrist injury trying to save his wife. Armstrong also hurt her wrist in a fall associated with the titling, the suit claims.
The trio is seeking $75,000 in damages and hopes the cruise line will adjust their procedures to prevent anything like this from happening again.
The Carnival Sunshine tilted due to an issue with the fin stabilizer. It caused furniture and dishes to fly and glassware to break.
Carnival apologized to guests onboard and continued the cruise as planned.
The apology read: “On Sunday evening, Carnival Sunshine experienced a technical issue which caused the ship to list. There was never any issue with the safe operation of the ship and our officers quickly intervened to correct the situation.”
“Following the incident, evening events resumed for our guests. Carnival Sunshine proceeded on its Caribbean cruise as scheduled. We are very sorry for the disruption this caused. We remain confident of the safety of the ship as we are committed to the safety of our guests and crew.”
A spokesperson for Carnival told USA Today “we have not seen the lawsuit and have no comment.”
