The Italian Court has now granted permit for the commencement of the unloading / discharge of the lower garages of NORMAN ATLANTIC, i.e. of garages No. 1 & No. 2. According to the plans of ANEK, garage No. 1 is to be unloaded first. Given that arrangements need to take place for the safe access in the lower garages, which the Coast Guard will attend, the discharge operations are not expected to commence before the end of next week.

The vehicles must be treated as total losses, since they have been exposed to high temperatures and smoke during the maritime incident and to extremely damaging conditions during their long stay inside the ship. The condition of cargoes is still to be examined and determined.

A Greek seaman of the Merchant Marine, diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma, received recently a considerable compensation in of his claims, which had been brought before the United States of America courts against the shipowners and manufacturers of equipment onboard the ships that contained asbestos.

The seaman had for many years served on board merchant marine ships and passenger/cruise ships, all over the world. His capacity as electrician obliged him to work for the maintenance and repair of equipment, in the engine rooms and the rest areas within the ships, which contained asbestos’ the seaman inhaled the asbestos fibers for years without being supplied with the necessary protection means and equipment.

The Greek seaman presented mesothelioma many years after his last embarkation. Our office represented the seaman and brought claims against the responsible persons and entities, including his former employees and manufacturers of the asbestos containing equipment onboard the ships. More than 25 defendants have been sued, many of whom were established or situated in the US.

After more than two years’ litigation on the motion filed by the defendants to dismiss the claim for forum non conveniens, the competent US court dismissed the motion and ruled for the plaintiff, after which an amicable settlement has been achieved, by force of which the seaman was paid a considerable compensation.

In some accident cases, the facts speak for themselves. Sometimes, however, the facts are not always what they seem and careful investigation by good lawyers can reveal that an injured person deserves to be compensated for injury.

Consider the following two examples of cases involving tourists injured in the United States.

Fatal Accident in Arizona Lake

A group of post graduate students from Europe took an adventure tour of the United States. They visited several states including Arizona where they were taken to a lake for an afternoon of water sports. One of the things they did was cliff jumping, where they jumped into the lake from adjacent cliffs. One of the students was killed when he struck the water.

The tour company argued it was not to blame, claiming that the student had assumed the risk of injury or death by voluntarily undertaking a dangerous activity and further that he had signed a form before the tour waiving any claims for injury or death.

Investigation by our firm revealed that it was the tour guide who had encouraged the students to jump into the lake and that eight other people had died doing the same thing in previous years. Furthermore, the company had advertised the activity on its tour brochure. In these circumstances it was clear that the students had been misled into undertaking an activity that was much riskier than they thought.

The tour company was ultimately compelled to accept responsibility and the family received substantial compensation for the loss of their son. Additionally, the U.S. National Park Service published a poster based on this case warning of the dangers of cliff jumping.

Trip and Fall in California

A Canadian visitor to California visited an upscale restaurant with a group of friends. Because she was older and slower than the rest she walked at the back of the group both on her way in and on her way out of the restaurant. As she left the restaurant, she tripped over a crack in the footpath, fell and fractured her hip. She required a new hip joint and her recovery was prolonged and complicated by infection. She ended up permanently disabled.

On first view the case seemed weak as the cracks in the pathway were open and obvious and the restaurant claimed she could and should easily have avoided them.

However, my office carefully reconstructed the accident with a volunteer and using a video recording and expert testimony was able to show that the visitor’s view of the footpath was blocked by the man in front of her so that she was unaware of the cracked pavement. Further, discovery revealed that one week earlier, the district manager of the restaurant chain had told the restaurant manager to have the path repaired urgently but he had done nothing about it.

The Canadian visitor received a settlement of $740,000, proving that careful investigation and good preparation by competent counsel helps a client achieve a good measure of justice.

Martin Blake

Walker Hamilton & Koenig

50 Francisco Street,

Suite 450

San Francisco, California

Unloading from decks/garages 3 and 4 of F/B NORMAN ATLANTIC continues at full speed. All vehicles on these garages are completely burnt, including the luggage inside them. The cars are being taken out of the ship by cranes, are transported to a storage area, from where they will be gradually taken for destruction/recycling.

Garages 1 and 2, where the vehicles are said not to be destroyed by the fire, will follow. However, the fact that these vehicles have remained under extremely adverse conditions for more than a year (high temperatures, humidity and water, chemical substances etc.), has undoubtedly drastically affected them; they should be treated as constructive total losses and have to be fully compensated.

Our technical experts were on board NORMAN ATLANTIC during the previous week, inspecting the areas that were gradually liberated from the cargo. The technical investigation is continuing. There have been no further findings or indications so far concerning the passengers who are still missing.

The burnt and damaged vehicles’ unloading operation is expected to start on the NORMAN ATLANTIC within the next few weeks. The whole operation has been entrusted by due procedures of the Italian authorities to a specialized Italian technical company.

 The unloading will be performed at stages, staring from the upper and proceeding to the lower garages. It is reasonably expected that the technical company will not reach the lowest garages, where the vehicles are said not to be burnt, before the lapse of a few months.

 Parallel to the unloading of the vehicles, the experts shall thoroughly inspect the areas that will be evacuated, both for the purposes of the investigation on the causes and circumstances of the tragic maritime incident, but also, eventually, for human remains and indications connected with the missing passengers.

 We shall keep you updated on developments.