NO APOLOGIES OR REFUNDS FORTHCOMING Cruise line gets tough with careless smoker

Posted on 06/24/2016

Perth resident Mark O’Keefe was on a P&O cruise with his wife, and stepped out on deck for a smoke in weather conditions that were described by his daughter as horrendous. He took two drags and then flicked the cigarette overboard; a blatant breach of cruise ship fire safety regulations. The incident was observed by an officer on deck to whom O’Keefe apologized. The officer asked him to return to his cabin, allegedly saying that there would be no repercussions. In the morning O’Keefe was summoned by the captain and told he was being removed from the ship.

O’Keefe was transported to an island and then flown to Denpasar, where he was left to find his own way home from Bali, according to his daughter Courtney who was not on the ship. She has taken to social media to share what she considers the unfair treatment of her father.O’Keefe’s daughter commented that dis-embarkation was too severe and suggested that perhaps he should have been fined, “or cut off at the bar.”The cruise industry is ever alert to the dangers of fire on a ship. In 2006 a fire was started aboard the Star Princess as a result of a tossed cigarette butt that landed on a balcony and ignited. One passenger died, 11 were injured and over a hundred staterooms were burned.Cruise ships provide smoking areas, but they do not allow the tossing of butts overboard. They make no secret of this policy.The P&O website states: It is prohibited to throw cigarette ends or flick ash over the ship’s side because they can be drawn back into the ship and cause a fire hazard. Please use the receptacles and ashtrays provided and ensure that smoking materials are fully extinguished.P&O spokesperson David Jones said, "The mandatory passenger safety muster on embarkation includes an explicit warning about the dangers associated with disposing of cigarettes over the side."A lighted cigarette can be drawn into the ship posing a serious risk to the ship and the safety of passengers and crew."Jones said that a passenger removed from a ship has travel arrangements made for them (at their own expense) by port agents and a care team.The website states, "The captain has the right to confine or put you ashore. P&O Cruises accepts no liability for this serious action or for any loss incurred - including repatriation expenses - and no refunds are available.”O’Keefe’s wife did not leave the ship with her husband. Her daughter said they did not have the funds to pay for both of them to return to Perth. Instead, it is reported that she refuses to leave her cabin until the end of the itinerary.