CRUISE LINE LOSES APPEAL Guilty of neglect in norovirus outbreaks
Posted on 08/05/2016
In 2015 a UK judge found Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines guilty of neglect when passengers reported suffering gastric illness symptoms on the Boudicca sailing to Canary Islands, Cape Verde and the Iberian Peninsula in March and April 2011. The cruise line appealed the decision and this week the Court of Appeals ruled that the cruise line was liable for the norovirus outbreaks that ruined the holidays of 16 passengers.
One of the three judges who made the ruling, Lord Justice Gross agreed with the original decision that there were 'multiple failures' to implement a plan to prevent the spread of the stomach bug.
Simon O'Loughlin, a solicitor from the law firm Irwin Mitchell, which represented the passengers, said, “This Court of Appeal victory will finally give the passengers who suffered illness during and after cruises on the Boudicca cruise ship in 2011 a sense of justice.
“They booked their trips expecting a relaxing cruise but instead ended up suffering illness often confining them to their cabins for days.
“It’s extremely disappointing that Fred Olsen have fought this to trial, and then all the way to the Court of Appeal, but we are delighted that the court has again ruled in our clients’ favour and they will now finally receive a fair settlement from the cruise company after enduring such terrible times on board the Boudicca ship.”
O’Loughlin added, “Whilst nothing can ever fully make up for the suffering they endured during the cruise, this is a great result for our clients and I am very pleased to see that the court has fully recognized the need for cruise lines to take appropriate and sufficient steps to prevent passengers from contracting illness.”
A Fred Olsen spokesperson said, “Fred Olsen Cruise Lines is extremely disappointed by the court’s decision, particularly in light of the permission to appeal the original ruling.
"Fred Olsen believes that it made every reasonable effort, in accordance with its approved norovirus outbreak prevention and control plan, to prevent and contain the virus on board Boudicca.”
This is the first time that a court has awarded compensation to cruise passengers who have suffered from the gastro infection.
In 2014 the cruise line settled with 130 passengers on nine separate trips aboard the Boudicca between October 2009 and May 2010, paying out £280,000 without formally admitting liability for causing the passengers to become ill. At that time Fred. Olsen said that there was an increase of cases of norovirus among the UK population.
