Ice Wave Injures Brits

Seventeen Brit’s were injured, three of them seriously, when a wave of ice from a glacier swept over the deck of a Russian cruise ship, the Alexey Maryshev, which was sailing 600 miles from the North Pole.

A feature of the cruise was to sail close to 30metre (98ft) high glaciers and watch the glaciers “calve” or fall in pieces in to the sea. Things went horribly wrong when the ship was some 50 metres away from a glacier when it suddenly calved and sent pieces on to it. There was also a huge wave that made the ship roll badly and it is thought, also sent ice which was already in the water on to the ship.

The Aleksei Maryshev was operated by a UK based holiday company, Discover the World and most of the 48 passengers on board were British. Andrew Morton, a travel law specialist and Partner at Manchester law firm Pannone LLP said, “Although the passengers were aware they were sailing close to icebergs, they were entitled to expect a reasonable standard of care from the firm they had booked with. Despite the fact the accident happened in Norwegian waters, it is likely the passengers could pursue an action for compensation through the English courts.

“They would be covered by the Athens Convention on International Carriage By Sea and quite possibly EU Package Travel Regulations as well. The Convention provides protection for seagoing tourists without them needing to worry about which waters they are in at the time of any incident.”

For more information please contact Deborah Ascott-Jones at Pannone LLP.

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Deborah Ascott-Jones

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Pannone LLP

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